How It All Began
by lyricalgurl8
Summary: Seishun Gakuen has always been a normal school, if you exclude the weirdness of its tennis team. But what happens when a certain girl crashes the status quo? FemRyo, everyone! Pillar pair! :D
1. Prologue

DISCLAIMER: I **DO NOT **own Prince of Tennis, though I would very much like that. :D

WARNING: This FemRyo guys! If you're expecting yaoi, then, please go back to the main list now and thank you for viewing my story, however brief. :)

It's been two years, minna! I missed this! Haha. Well, I had a major Writer's block with ISWB, but my muse just told me to write a story, so I did! Hope you all enjoy!

OH! Before I forget, If you guys are confused with the timeline, I made Rinko give birth to Ryoma in Japan. And when she was five they all went to America so that little Ryo would have a better tennis learning environment and all that.

Now, on with the story! :D

* * *

><p>It was a peaceful afternoon at Seishun Gakuen Academy. The birds were singing, the students were just leaving the school, everything was perfect. Well, almost everything. Why, do you ask? Because of two conniving women in Coach Ryuzaki's office.<p>

"Well, well, well. It seems Nanjirou did something right for a change! She's beautiful. Though, I guess she got the genes from you, Rinko," Ryuzaki Sumire chuckled as she gazed on a picture of a pretty girl who was wearing a white Fila cap. She has green-black hair, most unusual, yes, but what really sets her apart were her golden eyes that were so cat-like you would swear she was a cat. With her unusual look, white creamy complexion, she would be fit enough to even be Miss Seigaku! Well, if it wasn't for her glaring at the camera, that is.

"Did he take this photo?" Sumire guessed, amused at the on-going animosity between father and daughter.

"Yes, he did. I told him that she wouldn't smile with him holding the camera but he just wouldn't listen," laughed Rinko amiably. Indeed, Sumire was right. The girl in the picture inherited Rinko's face to the tee.

"Ah, some things never change, do they. She was already like that when I last saw her before you all went to America," Sumire said, recalling the fond memory of Nanjirou jumping up and down the airport because his 5 year old daughter kicked him in the shin.

"Yes, they never did change. I was hoping my daughter would at least get some proper manners there, but, I guess I was wrong," sighed Rinko, her hands folding perfectly on her kimono.

"Well, I guess one can't stop the Echizen gene from spreading too much," Sumire said, shaking her head at the result of 8 years of only having tennis and home school on the girl's head.

"Yes, well, that's why I forced-err, persuaded Nanjirou to let her continue her studies here at Seigaku. I want her to be in the presence of your niece. Well, she's not like those idiots in New York, is she?" Rinko joked.

"Of course, she isn't. You can count on her and me. By the way, how do you plan on furthering her tennis career? The girls' tennis club would just bore her to throw something heavy at someone," laughed Sumire as she imagined the chaos that would ensue.

"Oh, heavens, no. I already attained permission from the Tennis Association here in Japan. Of course, the Board of Directors here immediately consented. The Echizen name still has an impact on them, it seems," Rinko said as she smiled sweetly, which Sumire recognized immediately are like the smiles of a certain sadistic tensai.

"Oh. I see. Well, that would certainly boost our chances at the Nationals. I would just have to make sure she doesn't murder anyone in my club," Sumire said, immediately feeling sorry for her club.

"Yes, you probably should. Well, there's one more thing I would like to ask, Sumire," said Rinko, immediately going serious.

"What is it?" Sumire wondered what the clever woman before her would need help with.

"Get her a boyfriend, please," Rinko said, her eyes glinting cunningly.

"Why, that would be a pleasure to do," Sumire said, laughing evilly.

Meanwhile, at the Echizen household, a certain dark green haired girl sneezed.

"Geez. Some pervert is talking about me."

* * *

><p>And that's the end of the prologue! Haha. Review please! :)<p> 


	2. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: I **DO NOT**, in any way imaginable, own Prince of Tennis. If I did, Ryoma, Fuji and Kikumaru would have been together with their respective semes, ne? O:)

Here's the next chapter! Now, I won't be uploading very, very fast. I'm still in University so, what the heck. Anyway, I won't be focusing on the matches much. I just don't know how to make a good match. O.o Instead, I'll focus on the story, and forgive me, all the _mush_. Well, it is a romance story, ne? :)

And so, on with the story!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 1: It's a girl?<strong>

It was morning practice the next day after the two evil women arranged the life of one unfortunate Echizen Ryoma. As always, the sun was shining, the club members were doing their respective exercises, the regulars were playing respective matches, and their respectable buchou was in the sidelines with Coach Ryuzaki. Suddenly, everything changed.

"Tezuka-buchou, assemble the club. I have an announcement to make," Ryuzaki said, uncrossing her arms as she spotted a figure observing the practice behind the wire fence.

If Tezuka was surprised, he showed nothing as he ordered the club to assemble before him and the coach.

"Minna, I'm sorry to interrupt but I have an announcement to make," she said as she beckoned the figure to come forward. The person willingly obliged, moving to stand beside Ryuzaki. The person was quite small, even smaller that most freshmen there. The person wore a white Fila cap and had dark green hair.

"Minna, I would like you to meet our newest member, Echizen Ryoma. She just transferred here today from America," Ryuzaki said as she presented the person.

The club members stared at one another as they tried to process what their coach said.

"Did she just say _she_?"

"Yoroshiku," said a small, but definitely female voice, as she raised her head and stared at the dumbfounded club with golden cat-like eyes.

"A GIRL?"

"USO!"

"Why is a girl wearing a boy's tennis wear?"

"Never mind that, baka! What is a GIRL doing HERE!"

"You're kidding, sensei! I will not consent to a _girl_ be in the _boys_' tennis club!" snarled an angry voice from the line of second years.

"Arai! 20 laps!" boomed the other teenager beside Ryuzaki as he stared at Arai with an unnerving glare. He had chestnut brown hair and had amazing hazel brown eyes that were sadly hidden by thin wire framed glasses.

"Iie. Leave him, Tezuka. So, Arai, you think you're stronger than this girl here? Why don't we see?" the coach said as she looked at Ryoma, who was looking dead-panned.

"Baa-chan, do I have to?" she said, clearly annoyed.

"Aa. You know what will happen if you don't."

"Fine," she said, unzipping her tennis bag and getting out a red racquet.

"Get ready, little girl. I'm going to show you that girls should know their place in this school," sneered Arai as he faced Ryoma in front of the net and and got ready to toss to see who would get the first serve.

"No need, sempai. You serve. Baa-chan, can you time me? I want to finish this within 15 minutes," she said, already walking to the back of the court.

"Yarou," Arai said, gripping his racquet so hard his knuckles turned white.

"Shouldn't we stop this? She may get hurt!" a guy with a bowl cut with bangs said as he worriedly watched Arai shaking with fury because of what the petite girl had said.

"Iie, Oishi. You regulars need to learn not to underestimate your opponents. You'll learn a thing or two from Ryoma," Ryuzaki said as she gazed at the confident girl in the courts.

"One set match. Arai to serve."

10 minutes later,

"G-game, set. Echizen Ryoma, 6 games to l-love!"

"HOLY CRAAB! SHE BEAT ARAI IN _10 MINUTES_!"

"UNBE-FREAKIN-LIEVABLE!"

"Does that prove her worthy enough Arai?" Ryuzaki said as she stared at the junior unnervingly.

"Hai, sempai," Arai said tightly.

"Can I stop now?" Ryoma asked, staring at Ryuzaki with bored eyes.

"Ara. You're bored? Maybe one of the regulars can play against you," Ryuzaki looked at the regulars, trying to see who could match her skills.

"I would, Ryuzaki-baba," a tall, violet eyed guy with cropped hair stepped up and began to walk towards the court Ryoma was in.

"Iie. Not you, sempai. You shouldn't aggravate your injury," Ryoma said, tugging her cap lower down her face.

"Matte. How did she know Momo-sempai had an injury?"

"Good eyes as always, Ryoma," Ryuzaki said, clearly impressed.

"Then I'll play," a soft voice said. An audible gasp was heard throughout the entire courts as a teenager with long brown hair and the most effeminate features a boy's face could have stepped forward and smiled at the newcomer. What was really disconcerting was that his eyes were closed, and yet, he doesn't even collide with anything!

"Fuji-sempai will play!"

"She's in trouble!"

"Hmm. Most unusual for you, Fuji. Have you noticed it, too?" a voice said to Fuji's immediate right. The man who had spoken had short black cropped hair, very thick glasses that reflected the light and a notebook propped open in his hands.

"Of course, Inui. I'll play her to bring out her best," Fuji said as he got out his racquet, opening his eyes a sliver, indicating beautiful cerulean pools.

"**Okay. Bring it on, upperclassman**," Ryoma said, her tone challenging.

"Demo, Ryoma-chan, can you use your dominant hand?" Fuji said as he smiled serenely at her.

"WHAT did he SAY? Her DOMINANT HAND?"

"Ne, Inui, what did Fujiko mean by that?" a bouncy red-headed teen with gorgeous blue eyes said as he bounded for Inui for his input.

"He meant that the whole time she was playing Arai," Inui began.

"Fshhh. She wasn't using all of her strength, Kikumaru-sempai," a black-haired teen that had a gangster look, if you would count on the green bandana he was wearing, finished, looking at Ryoma with admiration-filled eyes, though his face was set in an angry drawl.

"Excellent, Kaidoh. So, you see, she's ambidextrous. She can use both her hands," Inui said as he scribbled madly into his notebook.

"Wow. She's very good then. What do you think, Tezuka? Will she survive Fuji?" Oishi said as he looked at his best friend for an answer.

"Aa. She will," said the captain, poker-faced, though his eyes bore curiosity in them for the newcomer. True, he was slightly disconcerted by the fact that a little girl would carry around so much potential. But still, he was the boys' tennis club captain, and for one, he was not judgmental. He would try his best to keep the members in line, especially with this case. After all, she is a special girl. She looked barely a freshman! And to actually beat Arai was no understatement. He was, after all, the best when it came down to their non-regulars.

He was promptly nudged out of his musings as he heard the tell-tale sound of shouts of encouragement for the regular.

"Will she win?" Momoshiro asked them, looking at the court then back at his sempais.

"Let's find out, Momo" Inui said as he pushed his glasses up his nose and surveyed the court the two players were in.

"Which?" Ryoma said as she put her racquet upside down.

"Rough," Fuji said, smiling as the racquet ended up smooth. Both went to their respective positions.

"Okay. First, can I serve with my right? I'm more used to my right hand when serving," she said, already bouncing the ball, readying to serve.

"Of course, Ryoma-chan," Fuji said, smiling sweetly.

"Don't call me by my first name," she said, irritated, as she served. But the serve was unusual. When the ball bounced towards Fuji, it curved up towards his face. He avoided it just in time.

"Was that," Oishi asked, his eyes as wide as saucers.

"It was," a guy with brown hair and brown eyes said, jaw dropping on the floor.

"A Twist Serve, Taka-san," Inui said, scribbling in his notebook.

"The serve of the legendary Samurai himself," Momoshiro said, awed at the girl.

"Fshh. Fuji-sempai's getting serious," Kaidoh said as he nodded at Fuji's direction. Surely enough, his eyes were wide open, revealing cerulean blue pools.

"Should we stop this?" Oishi said, fretting over the injuries Ryoma might receive from Fuji.

"Iie. Hora," Sumire said, pointing to the game.

"You're serious now, ne? **I should play seriously too**," Ryoma said, tossing her racquet into the air then catching it with her left.

"It's going to be a long match," Sumire sighed as she watched the match.

After an hour has gone by,

"Game and match, Echizen Ryoma, 7 games to 5!"

Utter silence dominated the courts.

"Eto, how many skills did she use?" Momoshiro said, counting said skills in his head.

"Twist Serve, One-footed Split Step, Twist Smash, Drive A, Drive B. Also, she is a Nitoryuu player," Inui listed all of the techniques used.

"Not bad, sempai. You have my respect," Ryoma said as she walked over to Fuji's side of the court and offered her hand to Fuji, who was kneeling on the court, panting.

"You are an enigma, Echizen Ryoma. You didn't even show us all of your power," Fuji said evenly, earning a very audible gasp and several murmurs.

"She just beat Fuji-sempai, _the Tensai_!"

"Just how strong is she?"

"Out of curiosity, Ryoma, how much skill did you use?" Sumire asked, highly satisfied with the outcome of the game.

"75%, Baa-chan. Why?" Ryoma said innocently, earning a jaw-drop among the club members.

"Any more complaints, everyone?" Sumire asked, chuckling evilly inside at the looks of her club members. Even the regulars were affected. An exhausted Fuji was being checked on by a worried Oishi, with a no-so bouncy Kikumaru in tow. Kawamura and Momoshiro were making moony eyes at Ryoma. Inui was mumbling non-stop since the ending of the match at the same time scribbling madly. It was a surprise he didn't run out of air. Kaidoh was in a similar state as Inui, hissing non-stop. Only Tezuka was unaffected it seems. Though there was a certain glint in his eyes when he looked at Ryoma. The coach couldn't read the captain, but she was certain the girl had made an impact on him. She just doesn't know how to find out what impact exactly.

Sumire sighed.

'Well, it might take me a little more time to fulfill Rinko's request after all,' she thought, shaking her head at her members.

After morning practice, the third year regulars went to their classroom to await homeroom. Yes, as fate had dictated, or at least, the principal, all of the senior tennis regulars were in the same class. The principal would have done the same with the juniors but it seemed that he changed his mind at the last moment. After all, having the two bitter rivals in a classroom would just result in chaos.

And so, the seniors were sitting at their seats at the back of the classroom. As predicted, all of them, excluding Tezuka who was reading a book, were discussing the newest addition to their club.

"She's really good, nya! She even beat you, Fujiko!" Kikumaru said as he glomped his best friend and looked at the others with wide, innocent eyes.

"Aa. It seems we underestimated her, Inui. I am not enough to bring out her full potential," Fuji said, smiling at the data specialist, who nodded speculatively. The data specialist just 'hmmed' and reviewed his notes.

"Eh? You two planned this, Fuji?" Kawamura said, looking from Fuji to Inui to confirm his question.

"Aa. We noticed she wasn't even playing with her dominant hand, so I took the challenge, Taka-san. My, she really had me chase the ball," Fuji said as he chuckled slightly. The others agreed, though somewhat reluctantly, lest they angered Fuji. If you were a bloke with a good sense of preservation, you must never, EVER get on Fuji's bad side.

"But still, for someone with as much skill as hers, she was really small, nya! I almost didn't believe Ryuzaki-sensei when she said she was a freshman!" Kikumaru said, openly wondering. Then, his blue eyes lit up in excitement.

"I know! I'll call her Ochibi-chan from now on!" he said happily, glomping Fuji.

"Ano, Eiji, I don't think Echizen-chan would appreciate that," Kawamura said, scratching the back of his head.

"Nonsense! It's the truth!" Kikumaru said indignantly, letting go of Fuji and crossing his arms while adopting a pout.

"Maa, maa, Eiji. Calm down. Well, with Echizen-chan on the team, our chances at winning the Nationals got even stronger. Ne, Tezuka?" Oishi said as he looked at his best friend, who was currently reading a book.

"Yudan sezu ni ikkou," he said, his eyes never leaving his book, bringing their entire conversation to a stop. Just then, their homeroom teacher came in. When the greetings were done, their teacher smiled and said some very, very familiar words.

"Minna, I'd like to introduce you to the newest member of our class," she said as she wrote a very familiar name on the black board. She beckoned that person inside their class room and had her stand in front.

"I'd like to introduce Echizen Ryoma," she said as she smiled at the class.

Golden eyes stared at the class as she mumbled 4 syllables that completely turned the regulars' worlds upside-down.

"Yoroshiku."

* * *

><p>Yay! Chapter 1 is up! Next chapter if I receive even one review! :D<p> 


	3. Chapter 2

DISCLAIMER: I **DO NOT **own Prince of Tennis or its characters. These belong to Konomi-sensei. :)

YEY! Haha. So, here's Chapter 2, minna! hope you enjoy it!

Thanks for reviewing, _BadyGuz_ and _Murderer_! This one's for you guys! :D

And now, the story!

* * *

><p>Chapter 2: The Fun of Chopsticks<p>

"Ne, Fujiko, what's Ochibi-chan doing here?" Kikumaru whispered to Fuji as Ryoma made her way to Tezuka's side because the only seat left was beside him.

"I don't know, Eiji. Miss Kouzuki said that she's an accelerated student though, so the principal may have put her here because of her situation," Fuji said as he looked at Inui, who was nodding as he jotted down data in his notebook.

"In any case, the girls should never find out about Echizen-chan," Oishi said worriedly.

"Aa. They would tear her up to pieces like that," Kawamura said, completely agreeing with Oishi.

"Probability of the girls surrounding her at lunch break, 100%," Inui said as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and closing his notebook.

"Then let's try to rescue her before then, ne?" Fuji said as he smiled at the others.

"Aa."

When the lunch bell sounded and the teacher left, Ryoma suddenly was surrounded by a group of girls.

"Can I help you?" she asked them bluntly, particularly the girl in the middle, for she was one step closer to her desk.

"We don't care if you're a prodigy or whatever for being accelerated. Just stay away from our tennis regulars. Got that?" the girl said, her green eyes glinting as she looked at Ryoma critically.

"Ahem."

"Who dares- Fuji-sama!" the girl in the immediate right of the girl who spoke, said, trembling at the last word as Fuji went and took Ryoma from their circle.

"We just need to borrow Echizen-chan, ladies. Have a good lunch," Oishi explained to them as he ushered the all of the tennis regulars, including Ryoma, out of the room.

The group stared at the direction the regulars went, chattering to themselves on why the regulars would protect the new girl like that. Their leader, the one who spoke first, narrowed her eyes at the event.

'Something is not right with that girl.'

Once inside their clubhouse, the regulars breathed a sigh of relief.

"That was close," Kawamura said as he looked outside the clubhouse window. Luckily, he saw that no one was stalking them.

"Echizen-chan, did they hurt you? How do you feel?" Oishi said, fretting as he checked her pulse then checked if there were bruises on her skin.

"I'm fine, Oishi-sempai. They didn't do anything to me. Just warned me to stay off their precious 'tennis regulars'. Well, since I'm not a regular I won't be bothering them," she said, smirking.

"Demo, Echizen-chan, you're in the _boys' tennis club_. Shouldn't you be worrying?" Kawamura said as he looked at Ryoma worriedly.

"Why? Don't I have the skills to match all of yours?" she asked bluntly, earning sheepish smiles from Kikumaru, Oishi and Kawamura.

"In any case, they will try to harm you just because you are in the club," Inui said as he adjusted his glasses.

"Then, someone will have to protect me, ne?" she said sarcastically, her eyes flashing with annoyance.

Silence followed her statement.

"Saa. She's right, ne? I wonder what will happen later when they come?" Fuji said, smiling quite scarily.

"Nya, Fujiko don't say things like that," Kikumaru said as he shivered with fear.

"I was being sarcastic, sempai," Ryoma said, exasperated that her usually effective sarcasm hasn't driven them away yet.

"Demo, Ryoma-chan, we really should protect you. We are your sempais, ne?" Fuji said, his evil smile taking new heights.

"Don't call me by my first name," she said, ticked off.

"Maa, maa, minna. We should really not fight here," Oishi said, trying to diffuse Ryoma's irritation against Fuji.

"Anou, Tezuka, when does practice start?" Taka asked, sheepishly asking their most silent comrade in an effort to help Oishi.

Fortunately for them, it worked, for everyone focused their attention on their Buchou, who was looking at the papers he brought with him.

"Why are you asking, Taka-san?" Oishi asked as he went around the clubroom and tried to find the first aid kit that Kikumaru always misplaces so that he could be prepared if anything happens to Ryoma.

"I think it would be safer to eat lunch here because of Echizen-chan. Would you mind, Tezuka? I know it's restricted to eat in here and all but-," Kawamura rambled but was cut off by Tezuka.

"Iie. It's not a problem. Only clean up before practice starts. Understood?" he said, eyes never leaving the papers he was holding.

"Hai, Buchou!"

"Ne, ne, Taka-san, what did you bring?" Kikumaru said as he spied a rather large bentou in Taka's hands.

"Well, Otou-san was experimenting on some new kinds of sushi and he needed input of costumers. So he asked me if I could get your opinion, minna," Kawamura said as he revealed all kinds of sushi, even sushi they had never seen before.

"Well, minna, please dig in," he said as he put the platter of sushi in the middle.

"Itadakimasu!"

"Anago for me, nya!"

"Unagi, please."

"Saa. Wasabi sushi."

"Nya! Fujiko, now I can't get any sushi from you!"

"Otou-san improved the wasabi sushi, Fuji. He made it spicier."

"Ah. Arigatou for the effort, Taka-san."

"Fujiko! I wanted to get some sushi out of everyone, too!"

"Maa, maa, Eiji."

"Ii, data."

No one noticed their freshman rookie at the sides, looking at her chopsticks like it was out of this world. Well, except their esteemed captain that is.

"Echizen," Tezuka called softly, regarding the girl with an expressionless face, yet his eyes bore curiosity in them.

"Hai, Buchou?" Ryoma scooted closer to him.

"You're not familiar with chopsticks?" Tezuka said as he put down the papers he was reading.

"These are chopsticks?" the girl said, looking at them with an air of a 5 year old being given a new toy.

Tezuka mentally sighed as the rookie who beat Fuji senseless in a match was looking at something this ordinary like it was a big deal. He looked over to where the utensils were, but sadly, there were no cutlery.

'Well, might as well help her so that she can eat,' he thought.

"Here. You hold it like this," he said, guiding her fingers so that they held the chopsticks properly.

"How do I get food with it?" she asked innocently, her arm doing stabbing motions in the air.

"Here. Practice on my food first. Sushi is harder to eat with chopsticks when you're only learning," he said as he got out his bentou and put it in front of Ryoma.

"Demo, Buchou, what will you eat?" Ryoma asked as she stared at their captain with a curious look.

"It's alright. You eat, Echizen. You'll need strength for later," Tezuka said as he made to go back to his papers, only to stop because someone had taken hold of the hem of his blazer. When he looked around, he saw golden eyes staring at him, imploring him.

"Eat with me," she said as she stared into his eyes.

Tezuka mentally sighed again as he sat down and got out his own chopsticks. For some reason, he couldn't say no to those golden eyes.

"Itadakimasu," they both said and then they began to eat, of course, Tezuka helping the girl when she looked like she was going to stab the meat.

When they were finished with their own meal, it seems the others were far from theirs for they were fighting over who gets to taste Taka's own creation in the middle.

"Minna, why don't we let Echizen-chan try it out?" Kawamura said as he looked at their rookie with a smile.

"Ok! Ochibi-chan, here!" Kikumaru said as he put the platter in between Tezuka and Ryoma.

"O-chi-bi-chan," Ryoma said, grounding out the words. Eiji seemed immune to the dark aura their rookie was spouting out, but the others weren't.

"Anou, Eiji, I think perhaps you should take back what you said," Oishi said nervously as the girl in the bench was twitching.

"Hoi?" Kikumaru froze as he too felt the aura.

"Echizen," Tezuka said sternly, bringing the girl out of her anger .

"Buchou?" she said innocently, which elicited a collective sigh of relief from the room. Fuji was looking at them with his eyes opened and Inui was muttering while jotting down notes at an inhuman speed.

"Try the sushi out," he said as he gestured to the patter.

"Un," she said as she tried to get a hold on the sushi. Well, the first sushi, let's just say it died horribly in her hands.

"95% chance that Echizen does not know how to use chopsticks because of her upbringing in America," Inui mumbled as he wrote down the data.

"Eh? Is that true?" Echizen said as he apologetically looked at Ryoma.

"Un. Demo, Buchou helped me practice. I just don't know how to do this," Ryoma said as she murdered a second sushi.

At this, Tezuka sighed audibly, which made the other seniors look at him in astonishment. Even Inui stopped writing in his notebook to look at him. He picked up his own chopsticks and demonstrated it to her. He put the sushi down and told her to do what he did.

At last, Ryoma caught the third sushi neatly between the chopsticks, eliciting a cheer from Kikumaru. When she popped the sushi in her mouth, she chewed for a few seconds before she grabbed her throat and promptly started choking.

"Echizen-chan!" Oishi immediately was beside her with water. The girl accepted and drained all the contents. That eased up the sushi as she leaned back on the wall, panting from the lack of oxygen.

"Taka-san, what did you put in there?" Inui asked, regaining his momentum and scribbled in his notebook again.

"Nothing! I just put a little Iwashi in there with wasabi," the cook said, his face showing concern for the girl.

"I'm allergic to Iwashi," came the quiet reply as the girl looked at them with wide eyes.

"Oh, no! What symptoms does it do to you, Echizen-chan?" Oishi said as he flapped around, looking for something to help the girl.

"Dizzy," the girl mumbled as she started to fall face down on the platter of Iwashi sushi. Luckily, Tezuka managed to get the platter out of the way and catch her at the same time.

"Maa, Tezuka, is she ok?" Fuji asked mildly, looking at the girl with his eyes opened.

"She needs to be taken to the infirmary. Oishi, start practice. I'll be back as soon as Echizen receives her medicine," Tezuka said as he deftly carried the girl bridal style then jogged out of the clubhouse.

Silence reigned in the clubhouse as the seniors stared at the door which Tezuka passed.

"That was unusual of Tezuka," Taka said as he started to clean up their mess, effectively leading the group out of their stupor.

"Yup hoi! Very! Here, Taka-san, I'll help!" Kikumaru said as he helped Taka put away their lunch.

"Fuji," Oishi said, coming closer to the tensai.

"Aa. He's affected, too," the tensai said as he closed his eyes and looked at Oishi with a sweet smile.

"100% probability that you're thinking of matching them up, Fuji," came Inui's voice as he strode up to them.

"Aa. And I'm going to need the help of both of you," he said as he looked at Inui and then at Oishi.

"Well, he does need to get his head off of the pressure of being a model student once in a while," Oishi said as he scratched the back of his head.

"Ii, data."

"Saa."

* * *

><p>AND ITS DONE! Weee! Haha. Read and review please! :D<p> 


	4. Chapter 3

DISCLAIMER: I **DO NOT** own Prince of Tennis or any of it's characters! Or else I wouldn't be here. (sulks)

YOSH! Chapter 3 is up, minna! Sorry for the mistakes and wrong grammar! I don't have anyone beta-ing for me, so, haha, there's the result. By the way, I started making the next chapter of ISWB. It SHOULD be out by this sunday, by any case. :)

A BIG THANK YOU to those that reviewed! This is for you, _ellydude, animelover4ever69, Cathy Rin, Future X13_, _FallenAngel Sayu, Quixling _and _MintLeafeon_! :) ALSO, THANKS for all who subscribed! :D

OK! And now, onwards with the story!

* * *

><p>Chapter 3: The Princess of Hyoutei<p>

Ryoma groaned as she felt the pounding of her head.

'What happened? Where am I?' she thought, opening her eyes and staring at the ceiling.

"You're awake," a deep voice said to her right.

She turned to the right and found herself staring at a pair of beautiful hazel brown eyes.

'Beautiful,' she thought, mesmerized by those eyes.

"Echizen," called the voice, snapping her back to reality and memories of what had happened to her flodded through her mind.

'Urg. I'm never touching sushi again,' she thought.

"Hai?" she groaned, forcing herself to focus on the owner of those gorgeous eyes and answer his question. When she saw Tezuka's face, she was surprised to say the least.

'Those eyes- were Buchou's?' she thought, surprised. She never thought that she would be attracted to the expressionless Buchou of the team.

"Echizen, are you listening?" said Tezuka, his voice coated with concern.

'Then again, with his voice, he is kinda hot,' she thought as she stared at him impassively.

"Echizen," Tezuka said, shaking her gently.

"H-hai?" she said, lightly blushing as she was daydreaming about him.

"Are you alright? You're getting red," he asked, his eyes discerning concern.

"Hai. Don't worry, Buchou. I can still practice," she said, ducking her face so that she could hide her blush while attempting to get up from the bed.

"Are you sure, Echizen? Wouldn't it be better if you rest?" he asked as he gently forced her to stay on the bed.

"Iie. I'm the only girl in the club. I can't have the others thinking that just because I'm a girl, I have privileges," she said as she got out of bed then brushed the wrinkles out of her uniform before he could even react.

"Alright. But stay close to me. Do not practice heavily today. After laps, you will stay with me in the sides. Understood?" he said sternly.

"Hai," she smiled softly, a shadow of a smile flitting on her face.

Tezuka was shocked to say the least. He knew that it was very hard to get a smile from her, never mind that it was merely a shadow, as their personalities were roughly the same. Also, he was impressed with her dedication to tennis. It didn't stop her from exceeding the prejudices of their peer group. She was really serious about this. He was certain that she had much more to offer to the team, and was willing to train her and be there for her, no matter how long it took. For he just found the next pillar of Seigaku. His pillar.

'Chotto. Where did that thought come from,' he thought, slightly surprised by his thoughts.

"Buchou, are you coming?" Ryoma asked as she held open the infirmary door, waiting for him.

"Aa," he said, ignoring his confusion to his trail of thought as he and Ryoma went back to the courts.

Later, when they entered the courts, they were immediately surrounded by the regulars. Even Momo and Kaidoh were present, though the snake player was within a considerable distance to the others.

"Echizen-chan! Are you alright?"

"Echizen-chan! Do you still feel dizzy? Can I get you anything?"

"Ochibi-chan!"

"Kikumaru-sempai! You're choking her!"

"Fshhh."

"Ii, data."

"Maa, maa, Tezuka. You did a wonderful job of taking care of our little rookie."

"Minna, 20 laps!"

"Hai!"

After their laps, Tezuka ordered the regulars to practice with each other, with the exception of Inui and Ryoma.

"Nya, why is Ochibi-chan not practicing?" Kikumaru said as he pouted as he glomped Oishi while gesturing to Ryoma and Tezuka, who both were standing in the sidelines, overseeing the practice.

"Eiji, Echizen-chan still is weak. She can't practice well enough. For Tezuka, the laps were practice enough for her," Oishi gently said as he pried his partner gently from himself.

"Oh," Kikumaru said, mollified.

As they were practicing, a shrill scream cut through the sound of balls hitting the courts.

"It seems the girls' tennis team is early today, Tezuka," Inui said as he appeared at his side immediately.

"That's the girls' tennis team?" Ryoma asked, the disgust in her tone obvious.

"Affirmative. They are often our cheering team for competitions," Inui said as he stopped jotting down notes to look at the reaction of their rookie prodigy. Never mind she wasn't a regular. She was a _girl_ in a _boys' tennis club_. That was enough reason for him to gather her data.

"Che. They're more worthless than Oyaji described," Ryoma said, tugging her cap down in displeasure.

"Yudan sezu ni ikkou," Tezuka berated gently, his gaze trained upon Ryoma.

"Che. Hai, Buchou," Ryoma relented. And then, all hell broke loose as the club stayed outside the fence and screamed out the names of the regulars.

"Kyaa! Kikumaru-sama! Oishi-sama!"

"Fuji-sama! Over here!"

"Kawamura-sama! I love you!"

"Momoshiro-sama! Kaidoh-sama!"

"Inui-sama! Be mine!"

"Tezuka-sama! Marry me!"

Then, the shrill screams died down as they were suddenly faced with an annoyed Ryoma.

"Ne, you're disturbing practice. Can you quiet down? If you don't want to play tennis, we do," she said, her golden eyes flashing in annoyance.

Silence ensued at her statement. Nobody ever went against the girls' tennis team because their captain was Hinamori Kimora, the heiress of Hinamori Corporations, one of the biggest companies in Japan. So to see Ryoma go against them was like a cold glass of Inui Juice down the boys' tennis club's throats.

"Oh? Somebody wants to go against my wishes? Who are you, little girl, to think that you can take on the heiress of Hinamori Corporations?" a brunette with green eyes stepped forward and crossed her arms, glaring at the small girl.

"Echizen Ryoma, at your service. And no, I am not going to bow down and grovel at your feet, your _highness_. You and sempai-tachi harassed me enough a while ago," she said smugly, deliberately choosing her words so that they annoyed the heiress the most. She wasn't mistaken in her observation as the girl turned a brilliant shade of red before speaking.

"Why you impudent little-," she said as she raised her hand as if to smack her, but someone caught the said hand before it could descend.

"Cousin of Ore-sama's, Hinamori. So unless you filthy peasant want to come home to discover that all of your assets are frozen, Ore-sama suggests that you not continue with hurting my cousin," a snide, arrogant voice came from the owner of the arm that was holding her back. She paled as she recognized that voice. I mean, who wouldn't.

"A-atobe-sama!" she said, trembling slightly.

The diva tossed down her hand like it would infect him in some way. Then he looked at the trembling girl with his infamous Ice Emperor Stare.

"Hmp. You lowly peasants should be marveling at the fact that Ore-sama is gracing you with his glorious presence. And yet you have the audacity to lift your hand against an Echizen? Do you want to leave here without a penny to your name?" he boasted, moving to confront the girl and hide his precious cousin at the same time.

"Of course not, Atobe-sama! We'll be leaving now!" she said as she literally flew away from the courts, her entire club following her.

"Che. Aren't you a bit late in your meddling, Kei? And where are Yuushi and the others? Aren't they supposed to be with you?" Ryoma huffed as she turned her back on him and walked towards Tezuka.

"I'm hurt, dear cousin. Whoever said I was meddling? And the team is still in Hyoutei. They didn't want to see the carnage you would leave here," Atobe said grandly as he followed the petite girl towards his rival. Ryoma's pointed look was answer enough to his innocent act.

"So, I meddle with the ones who make you suffer. Isn't being a cousin supposed to be like that? And I meant what I said about the team," Atobe said as he snapped his fingers, and immediately, his butler set up for him a chair, table and an umbrella complete with the usual brewed iced tea.

"Hmm. Finally, the team listening to Yuushi. I'm so proud," she said, sarcasm dripping from her words.

Finally, the two noticed that the entire courts had gone silent.

"NYA! Ochibi-chan is Atobe's cousin?" Eiji was the first to react to the scene in front of them.

"Sensei! Were you aware of this?" Oishi asked the silent but smirking coach of Seigaku. She looked at them with a surprised demeanor.

"Are? You guys didn't see the cocky resemblance?" she stated, quietly snickering to herself.

"Saa. So it all falls into place. Ne, Inui?" Fuji said as he smiled at the data player who was mumbling non-stop since Ryoma told the girls' tennis team off.

"Aa. I suspected as much. Who would have enough power to convince the Board of Directors and the Japan Tennis Association to let a girl join in a boys' tennis team. One must have extremely powerful backing and financial support," he said, pushing his glasses up his nose.

"Ehh? So you knew, Fuji?" Taka said as he overhead the conversation.

"Aa. And I'm assuming Tezuka did make the connection, too," Fuji smiled at the Hadokyuu user.

"Buchou! Is this true? WHEN?" Momo asked their captain who was as expressionless as ever.

"Awhile ago," he said, not taking his eyes of practice.

"Che. Mada mada dane, sempai-tachi," Ryoma said, smirking all the way.

* * *

><p>"Demo, Oishi, don't you think that Atobe is whipped by Ochibi-chan?" Kikumaru asked as the commotion died down.<p>

"E-eh? Why would you say that, Eiji?" Oishi asked quietly, nervous that either Ryoma or Atobe would hear his words.

"He stopped calling himself 'Ore-sama'," Kikumaru said a-matter-of-factly, pointing at Atobe.

Fuji, who heared what Kikumaru's point, dropped in his two-pence.

"Saa, it's because Atobe's afraid that Ryoma-chan would strangle him in his sleep if he didn't comply to her wishes," he said serenely, his calm demanor ruined by the glee in his eyes.

"Oi, Fuji! Stop spreading bad things about Ore-sama!" Unfortunately, or however you wish to view it, Atobe heard them and was quite annoyed, partly because it was the truth.

'Syuusuke,' he mentally groaned, vowing to get even at the smiling tensai.

"Hmm? Why? Is there something wrong with what Fuji-sempai said, Kei?" Ryoma said as she looked at Atobe with glinting eyes.

Atobe gulped at the look.

"Of course not, dear Ryo," he said gallantly, promptly ignoring the snickers coming from the regulars.

"I thought so," Ryoma said, smirking.

* * *

><p>FINISHED! Haha. Wee! Read and review, please! Thak you to all those that are sticking to this story! :)<p> 


	5. Chapter 4

DISCLAIMER: Sadly, I **DO NOT **own Prince of Tennis or its characters. Well, I can dream, can't I? (smirks) ALSO! I do not own **_ANY_** of the brands I mentioned here. So, no sueing, ne? :)

Wee! I love you people! Thank you for all the favorites! Haha. It really warms my heart! :) Here's the next chapter as a reward for subscribing and reviewing! :D

_ElLyDude_ - here's the next chapter! Glad to know you liked that part. Did you notice anything else? (smirks)

_Cathy Rin_ - haha. I just love torturing Atobe, ne? :))

_MintLeafeon_ - of course! Haha. This is Ryoma we're talking about. If she can make Tezuka fall in love, who knows what else she can do, ne? :))

_Kirai-sin_, _tat16_ - thank you for reviewing! Here's the next chapter! :D

OK! On with the story!

* * *

><p>Chapter 4: SHOPPING TIME!<p>

"Oi! Seshoujo! You have a visitor!" Nanjirou yelled as he pounded on the door of his daughter's room.

Honestly, why were they back here again? He didn't understand why Rinko wanted them to return to Japan. He knew that she was deeply rooted to her heritage but all of the best players in tennis were in America. They surely would be more than enough to train their daughter, but noo. She wanted to go back and enroll her in Seigaku, for some unknown reason.

'Well, let's hope that there's at least one person here who can challenge this daughter of mine,' he thought as the door he was persistently knocking on opened and a disgruntled Ryoma came out.

"What? I'm busy with Karupin, Oyaji. Tell them to come back tomorrow," she said as she made a move to close her door. Luckily for Nanjirou, he had the foresight to put his foot in the path of the door so it wouldn't close.

"Na-ah, Seshoujo. You're mother specifically called them to visit here. Now, what do you think your mother would do if you didn't entertain them, eh?" Nanjirou said as he pulled on the collar of Ryoma's shirt to prevent her from running to her bathroom and hide. Well, that had the desired reaction. Ryoma completely stilled at her father's comment. At last though, she sighed and faced her father's perverted grin.

"Alright. I'm going down," she said resignedly.

Nanjirou just smirked and whistled as he left his daughter and went down to 'entertain' their guest.

Ryoma sighed as she walked to her closet to find something more appropriate to meet guests.

'I wonder who could be downstairs.'

* * *

><p>When Ryoma went down, she was immediately tackled into a hug worthy of Kikumaru-sempai. She would have thought it was him if it wasn't for the scream that accompanied it.<p>

"Ryoma-chan!"

Ryoma smiled as she gently pried her best friend from herself. She ran a critical eye over her and was pleased that she found her looking better than ever.

"You look like you've grown up a lot, Sakuno. I think you have wrinkles already," Ryoma teased as she took a seat.

"Mou, don't tease, Ryoma-chan! I don't want to get wrinkles already!" her eternally bubbly best friend said worriedly as she checked her face for crow's feet. Ryoma stifled a laugh as she looked at Sakuno fondly. Sakuno has always been her closest friend ever since she could remember. Even when she was in America, Sakuno had always had her back. So, she's kind of relieved to have company in Japan.

"Ne, Ryoma-chan. I'm going to give you a tour!" Sakuno said suddenly as she stared at Ryoma with glinting eyes.

"Eh? I already know where school and the tennis courts are. Where would you tour me?" Ryoma said, antsy at the look Sakuno was giving her.

"You'll see," she said, giggling evilly. Ryoma could swear she saw two horns sprout from her head.

"I'm not going to like this, am I?" Ryoma said as she willingly let herself be dragged by Sakuno to her room.

* * *

><p>Ryoma sighed as she dragged her feet out of the cab she and Sakuno drove in.<p>

"Ne, Ryoma-chan! You're too slow!" giggled Sakuno as she dragged Ryoma to the mall.

"What am I doing here?" Ryoma said, deadpanned, as she lightly glared at Sakuno.

"Well, Rinko-san said that you threw away your whole wardrobe of girl clothes so I'm here to help you buy a new one!" she bubbled, ignoring her best friend's horror struck face.

"Yadda," Ryoma said immediately, not having to do anything with Sakuno's _extremely_ girly tastes.

"Demo, Ryoma-chan, Rinko-san gave me money and said that if we don't spend it all she's banning you from tennis for a month!" Sakuno said as she stared at Ryoma with a Cheshire cat smile plastered on her face.

"EH?"

So with that in mind, the best friends went in search for the clothes to fill out one Echizen Ryoma's closet.

* * *

><p>Ryoma groaned as another bag of clothes was added to the number she was holding. Currently, she was already sporting goods from Guess, Aeropostale, Abercrombie and Filch, Zara, and now, Bebe.<p>

"Sakuno, isn't this enough?" Ryoma asked hopelessly as she looked at her imploringly.

"Nope. We still haven't spent even half of the money Rinko-san gave me. Hmm. So, I think let's visit Gap and Mark's and Spencer's first before going over to the make-up section of this mall!" she giggled as she bounced her way to the said stores.

'Kami-sama, please, take me now,' Ryoma groaned as she made to follow her friend when a familiar voice rooted her to the spot.

"Ochibi-chan!"

'Oh no. Not them, please,' she prayed, but alas, luck was not on her side as for when she turned around, she found all of Seigaku's regulars coming in her direction.

"Going shopping, Ryoma-chan?" Fuji said, his smile growing wider.

"I told you not to call me that," Ryoma glared. Unfortunately for her, the glare was ineffective against the smiling tensai.

"Ryoma-chan! Why are you so- Oh! Konnichiwa, sempai-tachi," Sakuno said as she spotted the regulars talking to Ryoma.

"Konnichiwa, Ryuzaki-san," Oishi said as he acknowledged her with a small wave.

"What are you all doing here, sempai-tachi?" Sakuno said as she went to Ryoma's side.

"We were just about to watch a movie, Ryuzaki. Would you and Echizen like to join us?" Taka said as he bashfully extended the invitation.

"Well, we were going to shop for a few more items, but when that's done I think we could join you," Sakuno said as she answered for herself and Ryoma.

"Can we join you, nya? I want to help Ochibi-chan!" Kikumaru said as he glomped Ryoma, who nearly let go of all her bags. Fortunately, someone noticed her discomfort.

"Eiji! Stop strangling Echizen-chan! She might drop her bags!" Oishi said as he pried his partner away from the annoyed girl.

"Eh? Gomen, Ochibi-chan!" Kikumaru said as he made for Ryoma again but was stopped by Momo.

"Eiji-sempai, you're going to strangle her again!"

"Minna, enough," rang Tezuka's voice, laced with irritation. Surely enough, Eiji stopped pestering Ryoma, to the girl's relief.

"Ne, Ryuzaki-chan, can we help you and Ryoma-chan? We could always go to see the movie another time," Fuji asked sweetly, his smile getting wider every second.

"Of course, Fuji-sempai. Let's go first to Gap!" bubbled Sakuno as she and Fuji led the group to the aforementioned store.

Ryoma was very close to dropping her purchases. Sakuno had bought all of the items and had her carry them all, but fortunately for her, someone noticed her predicament.

"Echizen-chan, would you like me to help you with those bags?" Oishi asked as he noted that Ryoma was close to dropping the bags.

"Arigatou, Oishi-sempai, demo, there are lots of bags here. You can't possibly carry them all," Ryoma said as she helplessly looked at her purchases.

"No worries, Echizen-chan. Ah, Tezuka!" Oishi said as he spotted the stoic captain at the back of the group.

"Oishi," he said as he went over to them, his voice a deep rich velvety sound to Ryoma's ears.

"Can you help me and Echizen-chan to carry her purchases? She seems to be close to dropping them," Oishi said as he got most of the bags and offered them to Tezuka.

"Aa," he said, taking bags from OIshi.

"Arigatou, Te- Momo! Kaidoh! Stop fighting, you two!" Oishi cut himself off when he noticed that Momo and Kaidoh were close to brawling, thus leaving all of the bags he got from Ryoma in Tezuka's hands, effectively leaving the two anti-socials alone.

"Oishi-sempai panics too much," Ryoma said, noting how Oishi was now trying to separate the two rivals with the help of Taka.

"Aa," Tezuka said, watching Oishi and the others if he needed to interfere.

"Ne, Buchou," Ryoma's voice cut into his concentration.

"Hmm?" he asked, eyes looking her way even though his glasses didn't extend to his peripheral vision.

"Arigatou for helping me with this. And gomen that you got sucked into shopping with Sakuno and I," Ryoma said, her head bowed low.

"Iie. It was not your fault," Tezuka said, feeling the need to defend her against her accusations. As far as he knew, this was all Fuji's idea of a laugh. So, he wasn't going to let Echizen blame herself if she felt that she imposed herself on all of them.

"Demo," she said, her shoulders drooping slightly.

"It really is alright. I got used to these kinds of things," Tezuka said, in a desperate move to calm her down.

'Chotto. Why do I feel the need to calm her down?' Tezuka asked himself, confused that he said that much just to comfort her.

"Eh? Are you serious, Buchou?" Ryoma asked, bewildered that the normally stoic buchou would say that of all things.

"Aa. With Fuji, you never know what's going to happen next," he added in a dead-panned voice, amending on what he thought was confusing behavior from his part.

"Oh. Good! Ah, I mean, you poor regulars," Ryoma quickly amended, her face suddenly brightening. She wouldn't stand it if he was often very generous to other girls, taking them on mall trips, almost as if in a date.

Tezuka looked at her curiously, astonished at what he had heard.

"Ne, Tezuka, Echizen-chan, you're falling behind!" Fuji's voice cut through both tennis players' thoughts. The group was a little ways in front of them, leaving them behind. The two quickly made their way towards the others and they set off to find more grueling items for Ryoma.

* * *

><p>After they had visited the Gap, the group decided to go to the make-up section so Ryoma could fill her obviously empty dresser with lip gloss and all that stuff. Ryoma had to cringe as Sakuno and Fuji discussed the perfect color for her. Tezuka looked at her briefly, his eyes showing pity. Ryoma caught the look and sighed.<p>

"We're not leaving here unscathed, are we, Buchou?" Ryoma said as she sluggishly followed the group.

"Aa," he said, his voice betraying the uneasiness he felt.

They had a most hilarious incident at the make-up section because Eiji had the brilliant idea of trying the make-up on before buying them. And his unfortunate dummy was Kaidoh. So, Kaidoh was standing there with make-up on his face, hissing all the while. Inui was recording the data the chaos made. Fuji was laughing quite scarily. Taka was very embarrassed about the situation and Momo was just plain laughing at Kaidoh, who was joined by Eiji. Ryoma was looking anywhere but the chaos and Tezuka looked like he was going to burst a vein. Sakuno just laughed at their antics and declared that their shopping spree was done.

"And we have enough money to treat you guys to the ice cream parlor across the mall!" she bubbled, her charming smile on full force.

"Okay! Then let's go to there now, nya!" Eiji said as he bounced towards the exit.

The rest just sighed and followed the acrobatic player out.

* * *

><p>"Saa, looks like we did a good job, ne?" Fuji said to Inui and OIshi as they discreetly watched Ryoma and Tezuka interact.<p>

Ryoma was licking her quadruple scoop of ice cream and was forcing-err, persuading Tezuka to try one of the flavors. Tezuka, being the guy that he is, is refusing quite feebly, being forced to look at her frown (read: pout). In the end, Tezuka consented to taste the top-most scoop, which was vanilla. As a reward, Ryoma looked at him with shining eyes, which pacified the captain immediately.

"Aa. Arigatou for the fight you created awhile ago, Fuji," Oishi said, a smile on his face at seeing his best friend so carefree at the moment.

"Hmm? So, you noticed?" Fuji said, chuckling evilly.

"Of course. I pointed it out," Inui said as he scribbled in his trusty notebook.

"Well, we better categorize this as a success then," Oishi said, nodding to his two accomplices.

"Hmm. 85% chance that Fuji will come up with something even crazier than today," Inui said as he looked at Fuji with a raised eyebrow.

"My, Inui, how you know me," an evil chuckle was heard.

* * *

><p>SOOO, that's the end of Chapter 4! Read and review, minna! It would really make me happy! :D<p> 


	6. Chapter 5

DISCLAIMER: I, unfortunately due to some mishaps in Fate's masterpiece of a world, am **NOT **the owner of Prince of Tennis nor it's characters. Oh, Fate, why couldn't you just let Destiny handle this? (sobs)

Yey! I FINALLY got this thing done! Sorry for the wait minna, my college life just turned hectic so I didn't have enough time to make this. Now, this chapter is made by a coffee-induced mind, so please bear with the insanity of it all, ne? OH. Also, I made the Hyoutei Gakuen players know each other because they attended Hyoutei's elementary school, which I am also making up. So, I think that explains things on that part. Hmm.

_kiiyouko_ - thank you for the vote of confidence in me! Here's the next chapter! :)

_Nura.0_ - haha. Thank you! Here's the next one! :D

_MintLeafeon_ - haha! I totally agree! I like this Sakuno more! It's really more exciting than just the ordinary blushing girl in the canon, ne? Oh, here's the next one! :)

_animelover4ever69_ - thank you so much! I was really afraid that it would be too romancy and stuff like that! Thanks for the review! :D

_Cathy Rin_ - too true. I, too, am not one who likes things like that. (shudders) Oh, you'll see what he's up to. Soon. (smirks)

And the story begins anew! :D

* * *

><p>Chapter 5: Enter Hyoutei Gakuen!<p>

"Game and match! Echizen Ryoma! 6 games to 4!"

Ryoma and Inui approach the net then shake hands.

"WOAH! She became the very first regular in Block D!"

"She beat both Kaidoh-sempai and Inui-sempai!"

"And if you add Fuji-sempai."

"JUST HOW STRONG IS SHE?"

"You beat me, Echizen. Let's play again sometime," Inui said, nodding his acknowledgement, not minding the screams of the three freshmen idiots.

'Sometime in the near future, there would be a _boys' fan club_ here,' he noted, his eyes taking in Ryoma's cringing form as the three idiots shouted for the whole world to hear how great and mighty and powerful Ryoma Echizen is.

"Che. I never want to play you again. You're style is annoying," Ryoma grumbled as she let go of his hand and went towards her tennis bag, strongly fighting the urge to go and strangle the three freshmen. As she put her racquet away, she was glomped from behind by her very enthusiastic senior.

"Nya! Ochibi-chan became a regular! Yup hoi!" Kikumaru said as he bounced up and down while crushing Ryoma, thus causing massive depletion of precious air from her lungs.

"Sem-pai! Can't breathe!" she managed to choke out.

"Eiji! You don't want her to be sent to the infirmary, do you?" Oishi said as he peeled his partner from the breathless girl.

"Arigatou, Oishi-sempai," Ryoma said as she wheezed and hacked for breath.

"Kikumaru, 10 laps," a deep voice said, making Kikumaru 'eep' with fear and run to do his laps immediately.

"My, what a protective buchou we have, ne?" Fuji said as he passed Tezuka to get to his court, making sure Ryoma heard his voice.

"Fuji, 20 laps," Tezuka said, his glare fully activated. Well, if this was an ordinary member, it would send them scattering. But, this was our beloved Tensai. So, he doesn't qualify as a 'regular member', right?

"Hai, hai. But I have a game, Tezuka. Can I do them afterwards?" Fuji smiled serenely as he sauntered to his court, leaving Tezuka sighing inaudibly.

"Interesting. As usual, Fuji isn't affected by Tezuka's glare. This is the first time Tezuka showed his irritation at Fuji not obeying him. Ii, data," Inui said as he scribbled in his notebook, earning sweat drops from those who heard him.

"Ano, Inui-sempai, is recording that really necessary?" Momoshiro said as he walked away from his match with a forced grin at the data specialist.

"Of course. Both Tezuka and Fuji have eluded my data for far too long. I must record anything that has to do with them," Inui said, smiling scarily at Momo.

"Isn't that kind of a stalker?" Ryoma said bluntly, earning uneasy laughs from Momoshiro and Oishi.

"It isn't. Not if it's for merely collecting data. That reminds me, I need to collect data on you, Echizen. Would you mind tasting this for me?" Inui said as he held aloft a glass full of pink bubbling liquid with heavy red fumes coming out of it.

"Eh? What's that, Inui-sempai?" Ryoma said, amazed at the color of the beverage.

"Inui's Special Energy Revitalizing Juice. It will restore any lost ions in your body. I made it especially for you, Echizen. Dozo," he said creepily, his glasses glinting.

Ryoma was really fascinated with the color of the juice, not at all minding if it's a natural color or not. But then, the fumes were blown to her face by a breeze and she caught the smell. Her eyes widened and immediately started to hack and cough.

"Inui-sempai! What's in that thing!" she said as she tried to block of the smell with her sleeve while trying to inch herself away from the horrid drink.

"Just some vegetables that are completely healthy for you, I assure you. Also, the special ingredient I put in it should increase the maximum regeneration of energy by 15%, so it's completely healthy for a growing girl such as yourself," Inui said evilly, slowly advancing towards the scared girl.

"YADDA!" Ryoma screamed as she ran away, with Inui close behind her. Suddenly, she bumped into a wall, sending her to topple onto the ground. Luckily, strong arms caught her before she could touch the ground.

"Are you alright, Echizen?" the wall asked her.

'Eh? The wall's talking! And it sounds like Buchou! I must have hit my head too hard!' she thought, her mind refusing to focus.

"Echizen?" the wall began to shake her.

'E-eh? A wall can't move, can't it? Now that I think about it, why is it hugging me?' she thought, trying to focus on the wall. When she saw that it was her captain instead of a wall, she blinked once. Then twice. She then started to giggle. A lot.

"So it's not a wall after all!" she said, giggling quite uncontrollably.

"Ano, Echizen-chan, are you ok?" Oishi asked , approaching the giggling girl warily. He knew that girls act almost impulsively at certain times due to their hormones, so he was assuming that this was _that_ day. Therefore he was wary of setting her off.

"Saa, it seems that Ryoma-chan got slightly tipsy when she inhaled the fumes," Fuji said as he walked away from his devastated opponent, his eternal smile on his face.

"E-eh? Wh-what did you put i-in the-there, Inui?" panted Kikumaru as he returned from his laps.

"A drop of Riesling," Inui said, as he brandished the drink Kikumaru's way.

"Get that _thing_ away from me, Inui! Oishi!" Kikumaru screamed as he scampered behind his partner.

"EEH? That's illegal, Inui! Minors shouldn't drink!" Oishi said as he flapped his arms around like a bird to ward off the crazy data specialist.

"Technically, it's not. Riesling is a wine that has the least alcoholic content. And if you consider that only a drop was added, the alcohol is minutely diluted now. I'm surprised that it affected Echizen like that. Ii, data," Inui said as he put away the drink (much to everyone's relief) and got out his notebook, jotting down data.

Tezuka sighed as he looked at the still giggling girl in his arms. He tried shaking her, didn't he? What can he possibly do to make the tipsiness go away?

'Oh. Well, I could try that,' he suddenly thought, his mind replaying on the memory of his grandfather drunk on sake and his mother giving him something.

"Oishi," he said, getting the attention of the fukubuchou, who was eyeing the data specialist warily. I mean, who wouldn't? Inui had the certain glint in his eyes that promised torture to anyone who went against his wishes. Though, when Tezuka called him, his focus shifted.

"Hai, Tezuka?" Oishi said as he approached his best friend and (he was certain) his best friend's love interest.

"Can you go to the canteen and get them to brew the strongest coffee they have?" Tezuka said, his arms never slacking to support Ryoma.

"Of course, Tezuka," Oishi said, immediately going in the direction of the canteen. Kikumaru, in seeing this, immediately followed his partner. Tezuka nodded then picked up the girl and left for the clubhouse.

"Saa, it worked, didn't it, Inui?" Fuji said once Tezuka was out of hearing range.

"Aa. Though I would have preferred it if you used someone else as your guinea pig, Fuji," Inui said as he adjusted his glasses on his face.

"Saa. I was really lucky to have extracted that piece of information though. Took forever, too. Luckily, a fellow _enthusiast_ helped me, ne?" Fuji said as he saw Oishi and Kikumaru run towards the clubroom.

"Still, I never expected you to have me create a juice for her," Inui said as he looked at the ingredients list of the juice in his notebook.

"Eh? What are you talking about, Inui-sempai? Isn't the drink for all of us?" Momo said as he heard what Fuji and Inui's conversation.

"Oro? You want a taste of this, Momo?" Inui said as he rounded on the Dunk Smash player. Soon, the tell-tale scream of someone dying filled the courts, and the club visibly shivered.

"I wonder what it tastes like, ne?" Fuji said as his eternal smile widened a bit.

"Please don't say that, Fuji," Kawamura said as he approached the two remaining regulars with Kaidoh right behind him.

"Fssssh."

* * *

><p>Once the selections were finished, all the club members lined up in front of Tezuka and Ryuzaki, sans Ryoma, for she was still out of it. All of the original regulars were still regulars, sans Inui, for Kaidoh beat him flat. So, the entire club thought that there would be no more Inui Juice, but Ryuzaki, being a closet sadist, decided to make Inui a manager, much to the horror of everyone.<p>

"Now, we have picked all of the regulars for the District Tournament. Let's all work hard!" Ryuzaki announced as the members nodded and cheered, albeit some half-heartedly.

"Ryuzaki-sensei, what's Hyoutei doing here?" Kikumaru asked as the din died down, pointing at a lone purple bus outside of the campus.

"Eh?"

As one, all heads of the members looked at the direction Kikumaru was pointing. Indeed, no one would mistake that shock and style of silver hair anywhere as that person came out of the bus.

As the Hyoutei Gakuen regulars approached, the tennis club wondered if this was going to end very well for all of them, especially if Ryoma was involved in this again.

When they were in hearing range of the tennis courts, Atobe's elegant voice could be heard.

"Ah, Tezuka, where is my cousin? I hope nothing happened to her here in your pheasant school. This is really quite a new thing for her, ne Kabaji?" he said haughtily as he faced the emotionless captain.

"Usu," said a teen with black cropped hair and eyes. Well, he seemed pretty ordinary, if not for the fact that he was as large as a wall. What's more, he seemed to be carrying a teen on his shoulders, who seemed to be sleeping.

"She is in the clubhouse, resting," Tezuka said, one of his eyebrows twitching at Atobe's comment.

"Ne, ne, Atobe, maybe Kikumaru strangled her!" a red-headed player who jumping up and down said as he pointed at the incredulous acrobatic player.

"EEH? I would never do that to Ochibi-chan!" Kikumaru screeched as he pointed at the red-head.

"Now, now, Gakuto, behave yourself. You know what would happen if Ryoma-chan found you insulting her teammates now," a blue haired teen with thin glasses said as he put a hand on his jumping teammate.

"Gomen ne, Yuushi," Mukahi Gakuto's smirk was non-repentant.

"Demo, what happened to Ryoma-chan, Tezuka-san? Why isn't she here? Is she alright?" a silver haired teen with chocolate brown eyes and a cross necklace asked gently, his eyes showing concern for the girl.

"Yeah, what Choutarou said," a long brown haired teen with black eyes said, as he surveyed the courts with arrogance.

"The brat you speak of is right here, Ryou," said a voice behind them. When they turned around, Ryoma was standing there, leaning heavily on the fence. Instantly, Atobe was by her side, helping her.

"Ryo! What happened to you?" Atobe asked, his voice having a touch of panic in it.

"I got drunk," was the dead-panned reply.

"Eh?" Mukahi's statement summarized the feelings of the entire crowd.

"Come again, Ryoma-chan?" Ootori asked as he came closer to the weak girl, wanting to check if she was alright.

"I got drunk. Blame Inui-sempai," was the tart reply.

"Inui?" Atobe echoed, zooming on the data specialist, who, though no one but Fuji and Tezuka noticed, was getting a touch nervous by the stare the Hyoutei captain was throwing at him.

"Aa. Inui put a drop of Riesling in his concoction," Tezuka said out of the blue, answering Atobe's silent question, yet his eyes, which were full of concern, never left Ryoma's weak form.

"Inui did WHAT?" Atobe said, his eyes flaring. Suddenly, it seemed that the temperature had gone down a few notches.

"Um. Inui put Rie-Rie, ano, Oishi, what did Inui put in the juice?" Kikumaru asked his partner, who was looking at Ryoma with concern.

"Riesling, Eiji. It's a type of wine," Fuji said as he smiled calmly at his best friend, not at all bothered that the livid diva was throwing a tantrum fit for a king.

"Fssh. Why does that make a difference, Fuji-sempai? It was only a drop," Kaidoh hissed, feeling the need to defend his mentor.

"That's because Ryoma-chan has really low tolerance to alcohol, even lower than normal," Ootori said as he supported Ryoma to sit where Kabaji deposited the sleeping teen.

"Ano, Kabaji-kun, could you-" Ootori began but was cut off by Ryoma pushing the teen out of the bench and plopping herself down.

"Fssssh. What a price to pay for one to become a prodigy," Kaidoh said suddenly, making everyone turn to look at Fuji.

"Saa, is there anything wrong, minna?" he asked, his smile widening.

"Nandemonai, Fuji," Kawamura said uneasily.

"Anyway, somebody really should pick up Jirou-kun from the ground," Oshitari said, adjusting his glasses as he looked at the slumbering brown-haired teen.

"Why did you push him off, Ryoma-chan?" Mukahi said, pestering the girl by poking her cheeks.

"So I could sit. Stop poking me or you'll suffer more than you've suffered under Kei's rule," she said, her voice dripping with acid.

"Hmp. She's still like that, is she?" a brown haired teen with piercing eyes said as he walked towards them.

"Oro? I thought you weren't going to leave the bus, Hiyoshi?" Mukahi teased the boy, which thus earned a twitch from his eyebrows. He stopped pestering Ryoma. He liked his pieces intact, thank you very much.

"Heh. He just doesn't want to see the gaki again after she turned him down," Shishido said, crossing his arms above his head.

"I resent that comment, Shishido-sempai," Hiyoshi said, but nonetheless refused to look anyone in the eye.

"Nani? Ochibi-chan turned someone down?" Kikumaru asked as he surveyed the newcomers with an excited air.

"Aa. When we were visiting her in America a year ago. According to him, it was 'love at first sight'," Mukahi said, snickering.

"Mukahi-san, I said no such thing," Hiyoshi said, his blush betraying the truth.

"Ah, youth. So adventurous," a now awakened Momo said, sighing as he gazed into space.

"Ne, Jirou, could you knock out a certain Dunk Smash player for me?" RYoma said as he nudged the sleeping teen's foot at a certain angle. Immediately, the teen woke and looked at Ryoma.

"Sure, Ryo-Ryo! Whatever you say!" he sang as he went towards Momo and dragged him outside of the courts. Once again, the courts were filled with the screams of a certain dying Dunk Smash specialist.

"Hmm. We never really questioned her on how she does that with Jirou, ne, Atobe?" Oshitari turned to face his captain, only to find him missing. What's more, a certain Seigaku data specialist was also making himself scarce.

'Well now. That didn't go quite as planned,' he thought, catching the eye of his fellow tensai and smirked.

'This is FUN,' he thought, mirroring the thoughts of a certain smiling sadist.

* * *

><p>Ja jan! I finished it! Yay! Now, for amore interesting thing.<p>

I am officially issuing a challenge to all of you who read this. Can you guess what pairing i'm referring to in these last few chapters? :D

Read and review, everyone. Mwahahahaha!


	7. Chapter 6

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN PRINCE OF TENNIS NOR ITS CHARACTERS!

I'm back, minna! So sorry for the late update on those of you that were waiting for this. I was waiting to see if anyone would bother answering my challenge. AAAAANNND someone did! Yay for Cathy Rin! (applause) So, here's the answer to my own question, and there's more than one. (smirk) Oh! Also, thank you all for the favorites and subscriptions! :D

_Gogetadivagurl_ - thanks! :D Maa, who _knows_. All I know is that Momo-chan would be very, _very _careful around Ryoma now, ne? (smirk)

_Cathy Rin_ - haha! YES! That's one of the pairings. I just couldn't resist it. They're just too cute with each other! Thanks for the review! :D

_MintLeafeon_ - yep, she sure can! Haha. They really are perfect for each other, ne? Oooh. Now, there's a thought. We'll just see what chaos that would result into, ne?

Here's Chappie 6!

* * *

><p>Chapter 6: Matchmaking<p>

"Keigo-sama, a phone call for you," Wataru, the head butler of the Atobe family, said as he went and held aloft a chord less phone for the rich diva, who was sitting on the couch of his bedroom, to take. When he took it, Wataru dutifully slunk back to the door of the room, and slipped outside.

The diva frowned. He wasn't expecting a call from anyone today.

"Ore-sama speaking. Who's this?" Atobe said, his voice slightly polite if it was one of his father's associates. Well, it would never do for them to find him disrespectful, now, would it? But alas, his courtesy was wasted, in terms of his father's name, though, not altogether wasted. For it was his beloved on the phone.

"Kei, stop with the formality. It's only me," the voice said, dripping with amusement.

"Ah. If you say so, my love," Atobe said, his voice changing into a more relaxed tone.

"Gomen ne, if I called all of a sudden," the voice said gently.

"Iie, nandemonai. By the way, why did you call?" Atobe asked, curious as to what his beloved might need from him.

"I called because I wanted to thank you for earlier," the voice said, giggling a little.

"You forced me into it. But are you sure that this would benefit her? Would he be the right match?" Atobe said as he slunk further into the couch, a worried frown on his elegant face.

"Of that, I am sure. Have I ever been wrong before?" the voice said, smugness radiating from it.

"No, you haven't. But, next time, please use gentler means," Atobe said, exasperated at his beloved.

"We'll see," the voice, coated with mirth, said.

* * *

><p>"Mattaku. Where are those two?" Ryuzaki said as she tapped her shoe on the pavement, impatiently waiting for the two still missing regulars. It was the day of the District Competitions and their Doubles Two team-up, namely one Echizen Ryoma and Momoshiro Takeshi, were still missing, though it was already 8:40 AM.<p>

"Mou, there's only twenty minutes till nine! Where are they, Oishi?" Kikumaru wailed as he hung off Oishi, shaking him with gusto.

"Maa, maa, Eiji. They're probably on the way here already," Oishi pacified his partner, patting him on the shoulder to steady him.

"Aa. They won't miss this match. They trained really hard to become a doubles team," Kawamura said, smiling slightly as he recalled the practice matches the two would ask Oishi and Kikumaru whenever they were free.

"Fsssshh. I hear the baka's loud mouth," Kaidoh hissed. Surely enough, they spotted the two MIA players running towards them.

"Momoshiro! Ryoma! Why were you late?" Ryuzaki asked, giving them the evil eye. Momo eeped and hid behind Ryoma, who just rolled her eyes at her partner's antics.

"We were practicing, Baa-chan," Ryoma said nonchalantly as she looked at the clock apathetically.

"Ne, are we going to register now?" she asked pointedly, distracting Ryuzaki from further chewing them out.

Ryuzaki sighed and threw Ryoma an 'I'll get you later' look then nodding to Tezuka. Tezuka then approached the registration booth with the regulars.

"Seishun Gakuen, here with 8 regulars."

* * *

><p>Soon afterwards, it was time for Seigaku's first match against Gyokurin.<p>

"Ne, Baa-chan. I'm never going to play doubles again," Ryoma said vehemently as she dragged an irritated Momoshiro out of the courts, leaving with a score of 6-4 and their opponents severely traumatized.

Many people were openly staring and pointing at Ryoma. It was really annoying. They only stopped pointing and whispering when the referee got annoyed and threatened to call the Tennis Association themselves to confirm it. Of course, seeing that the competition wouldn't let just any girl join in the boys' category, they let it slide. When they saw Ryoma play, they were completely mollified, save for the Gyokurin Tennis Club, whose members were looking at Ryoma like she was the devil herself.

"You didn't have to knock him out of the game, Ryoma," Ryuzaki said, exasperated at the way Ryoma handled the situation.

At first, their developed strategy seemed to be working but the Gyokurin players made them bump into each other all the time. By that time, Ryoma was extremely fed up and did the only thing that popped up in her head. She purposely aimed at Momo's head, thus making him a little bit dizzy. So, she innocently made Momoshiro stand at the side and observe. Of course, Momoshiro made a fuss at first, but seeing her glare (seriously, she glares worse than Tezuka!) mollified him a bit. And thus, they won the first Doubles Two, albeit messily.

"He keeps bumping onto me," she said dead-panned.

"Oi! You're the one bumping onto me, Echizen!" Momo exclaimed, grabbing her in a headlock and giving her a rather large bump in the head.

"Momo! You're hurting Echizen-chan!" Oishi said immediately, prying her off the irritated girl.

"Ite, ite, ite," whimpered Ryoma, giving Momo a rather teary glare as she clutched her head close to where Momo gave her a bump the size of a goose egg.

"Mou, Momo! You're not going to get a girlfriend if you do that to girls!" Kikumaru said, taking a look at Ryoma's head.

"Momoshiro, 50 laps around the facility. Now," Tezuka said, his voice laced with venom. Momoshiro took one look at Tezuka then ran for his life, complaining to the gods why he was the one paired up with Ryoma.

"Fsshh. Baka," Kaidoh said, rolling his eyes at his rival.

"Ahaha. Momo really didn't mean to hurt Echizen-chan. Calm down, minna," Kawamura said, meaning to pacify his teammates.

"Tezuka, would you mind making Momoshiro taste this for me?" Inui said, holding a pitcher of red glop, literally. The viscosity of the thing makes it qualified enough to be considered jelly!

"Ano, Inui, what is that?" Kawamura weakly asked, looking at the juice warily.

"I wasn't going to introduce this 'till the Districts are over, but Momoshiro has given me a much needed reason. Hora. My Penal Tea," Inui said as his glasses glinted ominously.

"Why does it look like blood, Oishi?" Kikumaru whimpered as he looked at the drink while cowering behind his partner.

"T-that's not blood, Eiji," Oishi said as he looked at Inui warily, all the while trying to calm his distraught partner.

"Saa. It smells wonderful, Inui. Can I have a drink?" Fuji said, smiling sweetly at Inui.

"I'll make another one later. This one is for Momo," Inui said, smiling suddenly, his smile looking like a Grim Reaper's.

At Tezuka's nod, Inui placed the drink where Momo's water bottle should have been. When Momoshiro finished his laps and took a drink, he immediately foamed at the mouth. With an unearthly shriek, he fell gracelessly on the ground.

The regulars, sans Fuji, Tezuka and Inui, shuddered as they looked at Momo's unconscious body sprawled on the ground. One lesson was learned that day. One who hurts Ryoma in any way will be subjected to a _very _painful lesson.

* * *

><p>The Seigaku regulars gasped as they all stood up, horrified at what just happened. Ryoma was down on the courts, holding her right eye. Tezuka was the first one to act and called a time-out on the referee.<p>

They were currently in the Finals of the Districts Competition and were facing Fudomine. After Fuji and Kawamura's forfeiture at Doubles Two, Kikumaru and Oishi's win at Doubles One, and Kaidoh's win at Singles Three, it was up to Ryoma to win it for Seigaku. Unfortunately for them, their expected easy victory against an unseeded school ended up as their toughest fight in the Districts. Her opponent, Ibu Shinji, countered her Twist Serve right out of the bat and produced a serve very similar to the Twist Serve, the Kick Serve. And then, he produced a technique that temporarily numbs your opponent's playing arm, the Spot. And of course, Ryoma, being the stubborn girl that she is, still tried to return the ball by twisting her torso. But her racquet hit the metal post of the net and then split into two. The worst part was that the lower half of her racquet rebounded and hit her in the right eye. And thus, their current situation.

When the referee acknowledged and announced the time out, all of the remaining Seigaku regulars, for Fuji and Kawamura were at the hospital getting Kawamura's wrist taken care of, shot out of their bleachers and onto the court, where Ryoma was still holding the right part of her face.

"Echizen-chan! Let me see it please," Oishi said as he was the one with a medical background.

Ryoma took of her hand to reveal that half of her face was covered with the blood coming from her closed eyelid.

"Oishi, so much blood," Kikumaru said weakly, looking very pale. Oishi looked at his partner and then at Ryoma, unsure of what to do. Luckily, Momo came to his rescue.

"Eiji-sempai, you should sit for a moment," Momo said, escorting the shaking acrobatic player towards the bleachers, where the Dunk Smash player spoke quiet words of comfort to the distraught teen.

Oishi, relived that his partner was going to be alright, again focused on Ryoma's injuries.

"We need to stop the bleeding. Minna, let's get her to the bleachers," Oishi said, looking up at whoever was closest to him, which was Tezuka. Tezuka nodded once and immediately picked up the injured girl and walked quickly to the bleachers, far from the still queasy Kikumaru. He then set her down gently as Oishi immediately appeared at Ryoma's side with the first aid kit.

A terse moment of silence passed as Oishi tried to remedy the girl's injury. When he at last spoke however, his voice was shaking.

"I can't get the blood to stop flowing!"

"Oishi, give it to me," a voice said, and as one, the regulars turned and saw Ryuzaki coming towards them, her face grim. Oishi nodded once and gave the kit to her, and she got busy.

Oishi went to his partner, who was still quite pale. Momoshiro was looking at the girl with a concerned face, even though he knew that she was almost always the reason why he was almost always picked on by Inui. Kaidoh was hissing softly, though he often looked in Ryoma's direction, indicating his concern for the girl. Inui gave up writing in his notebook in favour of looking at Tezuka's reactions intently. As for the said captain, his poker face remained intact, though, for those who really knew him, they would immediately know that the said captain was concerned for their female rookie, by his unusually tightly clenched hands and his firmer jaw line.

When Ryuzaki was done, the regulars saw that Ryoma's right eye was completely covered in gauze.

"This will hold, but not for long," Ryuzaki sighed as she got up to observe what she had done.

"Arigatou, Baa-chan. Ne, Kaidoh-sempai, hand me my spare racquet," Ryoma said as she stood up and tried to walk back to the courts.

"Oi, Echizen! You can't be serious! You can't do that, na. You can't do that, yo," Momoshiro said as he suddenly appeared and blocked Ryoma's path.

"Why?" she asked bluntly, staring down Momo even if she only had one eye on her arsenal.

"Ryoma, you had a lucky break! A couple more centimetres and you could have lost you _eye_!" Ryuzaki pointed out, earning wide eyed looks from the regulars.

"Echizen, forfeit the match. There's still an 88% chance of Tezuka winning in Singles One," Inui said as he looked at the determined girl.

"What if the other 12% chance came true, then?" she asked, her face set on a frown.

"Fssssh. Don't force yourself," Kaidoh gruffly answered.

"I'm not forcing myself. I can still play," Ryoma said as she headed toward the court. Suddenly, her spare racquet was being held in front of her. When she look at whoever was holding her racquet, she saw Tezuka staring at her with soulful eyes, even though his face said nothing.

"I'll give you ten minutes. When you're not finished, you're forfeiting. Understood?" he said sternly, his eyes never leaving Ryoma's.

"Hai, Buchou," Ryoma said as she grabbed her racquet and headed back to the courts.

"Are you sure about this, Tezuka?" Ryuzaki quietly asked him, as the rest went to check on Kikumaru.

"Aa."

* * *

><p>Ten minutes later, a surprised but exasperated Ibu Shinji was walking out of the courts, mumbling to himself, while Ryoma was being suffocated by the hugs she was getting. The referee then announced the score to be 6-4 and that Seigaku was the District Champions.<p>

After the awarding ceremony was over, the group had decided to meet at Kawamura Sushi to celebrate.

"Congratulations, minna!" Oishi said as he stood up and raised his glass in a toast.

"Yeah!"

"We're the district champions!" Momo sang as he dug in to some sushi.

"Yup hoi! And it's all thanks to Ochibi-chan!" Kikumaru said as he jumped from table to table, nicking sushi out of everyone's plates.

"Eiji! Stop bouncing around! You might upend some tables!" Oishi, ever the motherhen, chastised as he watched Kikumaru worriedly.

"Mengo, Oishi," Kikumaru said, halting at Oishi's side and poking his cheek.

"Maa, Eiji, you sure bounced back pretty quickly," Fuji said as he ate some of his sushi.

"Of course! We won, nya! And Oishi talked me out of it!" Kikumaru said as he flashed a victory sign at Fuji, who, weirdly, was looking at the blushing motherhen.

"That reminds me, Taka-san, how's your wrist?" Inui said as he looked at the power player, who was waving his bandaged wrist.

"It's just a sprain, Inui. It'll heal pretty fast," Kawamura said sheepishly. Then, Kawamura saw the two quietest individuals in a corner of the restaurant.

"Tezuka, Echizen-chan, why don't you guys eat and enjoy the party?" Kawamura said as he approached them.

"I don't eat sushi, Kawamura-sempai," Ryoma said bluntly, making Kawamura blink.

"Echizen," Tezuka admonished sternly.

"Gomen, Buchou," Ryoma said as she nodded at Tezuka. Then, she turned her attention at Kawamura.

"I don't eat sushi anymore, Kawamura-sempai. Not since my first time," Ryoma said as she looked at Kawamura with a straight stare.

"Oh! Gomenasai, Echizen-chan! I should've realized!" Kawamura said as his eyes widened as he recalled the not so fun memory.

"Iie, it's not a problem, sempai. I'm okay with juice," Ryoma said as she sipped her glass. Kawamura apologized again to her before turning to Tezuka. Tezuka just stared back at Kawamura, answering his silent question. Kawamura then smiled and said that they have a good night and left for the other table.

"Ne, Buchou," Ryoma said, breaking the silence that was between them.

"Hmm?" Tezuka asked, his eyes slanting towards her.

"Arigatou," she said, her cheeks painted a slightly pinkish color.

"Aa," he said, determinedly ignoring her blush so he could fight of his own.

"Saa, couldn't have planned it better," Fuji said quietly, chuckling as he watched the two blush.

"Are you going to report this to Atobe?" Inui said lowly as he recorded their reactions in his notebook.

"Of course, Inui." Fuji's smile definitely promised trouble for Seigaku.

* * *

><p>Finished! Now, who predicted <em>that<em>, ne? Read and review everyone! :D


	8. Chapter 7

DISCLAIMER: I, SADLY, DO NOT OWN PRINCE OF TENNIS NOR ITS CHARACTERS. (sobs)

Yay! It's Chapter 7, minna! I'm uploading this earlier because I can;t write this weekend because I have to go on a class excursion. Sorry about that! I;ll just apologize with this, ne? :)

_FallenAngel Sayu_ - yes, well, sorry about the mixed signals. And yes, this chapter is chock full of that. Hope you enjoy it. :)

_animelover4ever69_ - hmm. I really haven't thought about that yet. Haha. I just want to finish this thing. Well, I'll consider it. :D

_MintLeafeon_ - yep. It really hurts! Of ourse! She's not an Echizen for nothing, ne? Well, I had to make it Momo because Oishi was still busy with _his partner_. (smirks)

_Cathy Rin_ - yes, well, this is Fuji we're talking about. Haha. This chapter's all about their attempts at matchmaking so I do hope you'll enjoy it. :)

And now, here's Chapter 7!

* * *

><p>Chapter 7: A Boring Day Gone Catty<p>

"Meow."

Ryoma smiled as she looked down from her meal and found Karupin there, looking at her with an expression that clearly said 'Play with me!'.

"Karupin, I have morning practice. I can't play with you right now. I'll play with you when I get back from school, okay?" she said as she got off her chair and scooted down to scratch the cute feline behind the ears. She then nodded to Nanako, who was giving Karupin her breakfast, and walked down the hallway to the front door. She shouted that she was going, and was immediately gone.

No one noticed a pair of blue eyes following her.

* * *

><p>At Seishun Gakuen, all was well. The tennis club was, as usual, doing their morning laps. Inui had still to pull out a concoction of his to 'encourage' everyone. So, in short, it was a pretty good morning. Well, as usual, it didn't last very long.<p>

"Everyone, ten more laps!" Tezuka said as he looked at the club behind him.

"Hai!"

"Oro? Only ten laps left? I'll just have to up the ante, then. Hora, Inui's Deluxe Hyper Remix Vegetable Juice," he said as he pulled out a glass containing his latest juice. In seeing this, the club members all screamed and dashed around the courts, desperation in their minds.

"Is lavender a normal color for a beverage?" Kikumaru wailed as he sped up, not wanting to get involved with the juice.

"Inui! What did you put in there? It looks like someone put mercury in there!" Oishi shouted as they passed the insane manager, noting the silver streaks that were swirling around the glass. Inui's smile turning up a notch as he cornered most of the people that came behind the regulars.

"Oh. I forgot to mention that those that don't do their laps in under a minute would have to drink this," he said, his evil grin in full force. The screams of the non-regulars were enough to give one a nightmare to last for a month.

"Oh, and the last one to cross the finish line would drink this," the data specialist (sadist) said as he held a pitcher full of the juice.

As one, all of the regulars increased their speed drastically. And somehow, Ryoma managed to get a hold of a tennis racquet. She then gave the said to racquet to Kawamura, who suddenly changed moods.

"Hora! Moeruze! Burning!" he shouted as he broke through the ranks of the regulars, with Ryoma following him closely.

"Oi, Echizen! That's not fair!" Momo immediately shouted, earning himself a cheeky grin from the girl.

"Mou, Ochibi-chan cheated, Oishi!" Kikumaru said as he raced beside his partner, all the while pouting.

"Don't mind that now, Eiji! Keep running or Inui will catch you!" Oishi said as he urged on his partner, definitely not liking his mental imagery of a passed out Kikumaru.

And then Oishi felt it rather than saw it, for he pulled Kikumaru to the side before two people came barreling their way to where Ryoma and Kawamura were. All the while, the two were oblivious to the fact that they nearly flattened their hyperactive sempai for they were glaring at each other while muttering the same phrase angrily.

"I must not lose to him! I must not lose to him!"

"Arigatou, Oishi! But we have to hurry up!" Kikumaru said as he half-dragged his partner to the front. Kikumaru spotted his best friend there and was therefore confused.

"Ne, Fujiko, I thought you liked Inui's juices?" Kikumaru asked, attracting the attention of Oishi and Momo, though with Momo, he only glaced at the Tensai and then resumed his heated glaring at his rival.

"Aa, I do," Fuji replied, his enigmatic smile on his face.

"Then why don't you go last so we could escape?" Kikumaru said with a glimmer of hope in his voice. Fuji just smiled wider and looked at his best friend without slowing his pace down.

"I like it better when people suffer."

Kikumaru shivered at his response and in turn, scooted closer to Oishi, who was shaking his head at the Tensai's reply.

'Must remember not to cross him,' Oishi thought as he looked at his fellow matchmaker warily.

"Ne, Tezuka, would you like to try the juice? It looks really good," Fuji said as he looked at his friend, who, even though his poker face never changed, was showing signs of being mildly afraid of the said juice, with how he was running easily on par with them as proof.

"No, thank you," was the curt reply.

And when the regulars crossed the finish line, they all crossed it together, for all the non-regulars had already fallen victim to the new juice on the last five laps.

"No loser means no winner. How about we all share this?" Inui said as he held the glass aloft invitingly, or so he thought. But then, he was faced with murderous glares from the regulars, sans Tezuka, who frowned deeper, and Fuji, who chuckled evilly, which caused the non-regulars to give him a wide berth. And, as one, the regulars, sans the two, shouted for all Seishun Gakuen to hear.

"Drink that yourself!"

* * *

><p>As the club was overall resting from their Marathon from Hell, someone's cell phone suddenly blared to life.<p>

"Totemo totemo kurushikutemo, keshite keshite yowane wa misenai. Konna koto wa, nande mo nain da to ochitsuite ikou."

"Echizen-chan! I think that's your phone!" Kawamura yelled to get the attention of their female rookie, and the rest of the club, for that matter.

"Eh?" she said, moving towards her bag. Surely enough, the music was coming from her bag pocket where she kept her cell phone. She sighed, thinking that her father was calling her again for some unknown reason. And, as she took out her phone, which was white and had a tennis ball and Himalayan cat charm on it, the regulars, except their captain, inched closer to Ryoma, intent on listening to the conversation.

"Hello?" she said, not bothering to look at the LCD of the phone.

"Ryoma-chan?" a definitely female voice said, thus making her rule out her baka Oyaji. Then, her mind processed the voice and realized that it was her cousin, Nanako.

"Nanako, what's wrong? You won't call me at school if something's not right at home," Ryoma asked, dread slowly enveloping her insides. And then her cousin uttered the sentence that nearly shattered her resolve.

"Yes, well, Ryoma-chan, Karupin's gone!"

* * *

><p>Ryoma stumbled through class that day. She didn't even realize that she was in class until her English teacher called her up to the board to translate something. As usual, she answered flawlessly and returned to her seat, once more retaining her brooding mood.<p>

"Does anyone know why Echizen-chan is like that?" Oishi whispered to the others as he watched the girl worriedly.

"She's been like that ever since she picked up her phone on morning practice," Kawamura said, noting her unusual gloomy demeanour.

"85% that the one calling was a relative. 92% that he or she had bad news to give, seeing that it was already school hours when she called," Inui said, calmly writing on his notebook.

"Nya, should we ask her about it?" Kikumaru said, unhappily looking at Ryoma.

"No. She probably won't tell us anything. She needs someone she's close to," Fuji said as he looked at the girl. Then, his gaze suddenly shifted to their silent companion, his eyes taking on a mischievous glint.

"Demo, I think she'll open up to you, Tezuka," Fuji said innocently, earning stares from their fellow regulars.

"You know, Fuji has a point, Tezuka," Oishi said thoughtfully, inwardly rejoicing at Fuji's cleverness at manipulating situations.

"Aa. 95% she'll open up to you where as only 54% with the rest of us," Inui quipped, adding in his own ammunition.

"Tezuka, please? For Ochibi-chan?" Kikumaru said as he looked at Tezuka pleadingly.

"Tezuka, please consider," Kawamura said, his tone gentle.

Tezuka just sighed. He knew this was going to happen. Why they placed him and Echizen in that kind of light, he would never understand.

'I mean, I only showed curiosity for the girl, not declaring my undying love for her!' he exasperatedly thought as he rubbed his temples, feeling a migraine coming up.

"Aa," he just said, resigning himself to his fate.

'If I say no, no one will leave me alone,' he moaned internally, though a small part of himself insisted that there was more to it. He happily ignored that part and once again focused his attention to the teacher, ending their conversation and forcing the others to end theirs as well.

The three matchmakers exchanged gleeful looks discreetly.

* * *

><p>When lunch came, Ryoma was still sitting on her chair, her gaze directed at nowhere. The tennis regulars were looking at her with concern in their faces, all the while gesturing for Tezuka to go speak with the girl. The captain just sighed mentally and approached the glum girl.<p>

"Echizen," he called, getting no reaction.

"Echizen," he was standing in front of her, but still no reaction!

"Echizen," he shook her form slightly, earning himself a distant look from the girl.

"Buchou?" she asked, not quite sure that it was actually Tezuka.

"Aa. It's lunch now. Why are you spacing out?" Tezuka asked, lacing his voice with mild concern.

"My cat's gone, Buchou. No one can find her at home. I don't know where she is right now," Ryoma said, feeling tears develop in her eyes.

Tezuka blinked. And blinked again.

'Her cat is the reason she's like this?' he thought as he silently watched Ryoma rub her eyes to prevent the tears from leaking out.

'Must be a very special cat,' he thought, making up his mind so that Ryoma would stop getting emotional and can once again focus on her tennis.

'Yeah, right. You just want to make her stop being sad,' a small voice inside his head said, startling him with its bluntness. He happily ignored the said voice and concentrated at Ryoma.

"Come," he said, grabbing her hand gently and pulling the girl up from her seat. The girl followed with wide eyes. He looked to where the regulars were still huddled and signalled them to follow him.

So, all the seniors of the tennis club regulars, and Ryoma, found themselves inside the Principal's Office.

"What can I do for you, Tezuka?" the principal, Mr. Nakashima, asked as he looked at Tezuka and the rest with kind eyes.

"Sir, we would like to be excused from further classes this afternoon. A family member of Echizen has gone missing and we wish to help her find the runaway," Tezuka said calmly, making all the regulars that were with him look at him with surprise on their faces.

"Oh, I see. Of course you may be excused. Good luck in finding your MIA family member, Echizen," the principal said as he nodded to the girl and gestured them out.

"Ochibi-chan! Is it true? One of your family is missing?" Kikumaru immediately asked the girl, who was still looking at Tezuka in disbelief.

"Aa. She's missing her cat," Tezuka answered for her, seeing that she was still in a state of disbelief.

"Eh?" Kawamura exclaimed, summarizing the feelings of the others perfectly.

"My cat's important to me, sempai," said Ryoma quietly, hearing the disbelief in his exclamation.

Fuji looked at Ryoma, who was still holding Tezuka's hand for support, and then shifted her gaze to Tezuka, who made no move to remove his hand. He smiled inwardly, feeling elated his plan worked out.

"Minna, let's help Ryoma-chan," he said sweetly, making the others turn their attention to him, instead.

Of course, Oishi and Inui cottoned on what he was trying to do, so they immediately agreed to find the said cat.

"We should separate individually to cover more ground. Oishi, look in the street tennis courts. Fuji, look in the west side of the town residences. Kawamura, you look in the east. I'll look in the west side of the commercial district. Kikumaru, you look in the eastern part, and Tezuka, you look here at campus. Best take Echizen with you, I don't think she can handle being alone," Inui said, the last part being whispered so that only Tezuka could hear.

Nevertheless, Tezuka nodded and faced his friends.

"Ano, what does the cat look like?" Oishi asked, being sensible enough to realize that they didn't know what kind of cat they were looking for.

"She's a Himalayan cat, sempai, with white and brown fur," Ryoma quietly said. The rest nodded and filled the information in their heads.

"Minna, meet back here at exactly 4 o'clock. Yudan sezu ni ikkou," Tezuka said and then watched as the rest dispersed to their specific locations. He then looked at the girl that was still clutching his hand like a lifeline, too emotionally unstable to say her usual snarky phrases.

"Echizen, let's start inside the buildings then progress outwards, okay?" he said, making sure his voice was gentle. He didn't want to startle his charge, now, did he? Echizen just nodded glumly as he lead the way inside.

They searched high, and they searched low. The two searched everywhere they could think of that a cat may be at. They even looked at the emergency exits. But alas, no luck. So, they turned their search outside. They searched the ground, the bushes, the trees, everywhere. Still, no sign of the cat.

"That cat is really important to you, isn't she, Echizen?" Tezuka asked as they were sitting on the shade of a sakura tree, currently taking a break from their relentless searching.

"She's the only friend I've made until I met sempai-tachi and Sakuno," Ryoma said quietly, feeling dejected that her cat was still missing.

Tezuka processed the information in his mind, just as the bell signalling the end of classes rang.

"It's 4 already. They should be here," Tezuka said as he brushed off dirt from his uniform and offered his hand to Ryoma, who hoisted herself up. Then, they walked towards the school gates, where they were supposed to meet, still holding hands.

Of course, many students noticed this and were quietly whispering and tittering, which was happily ignored by the duo.

When they reached the gates, all of the seniors were there, but sadly, there was no Himalayan cat in their arms.

"Gomen ne, Ryoma-chan, we couldn't find her anywhere," Fuji said as he looked at the girl concernedly.

"Oh," was the only reply they could get from their rookie.

Tezuka sighed mentally and looked at his friends.

"We'll resume looking for her cat tomorrow. It's getting late. We should all go home, minna. Arigatou for helping," he said as he nodded his thanks. They all smiled back at him, but then their smiles vanished when they looked at the girl they all treated like a little sister.

"Tezuka, you should walk her home," Oishi said, worried about the welfare of the girl who could bring about changes in his best friend's demeanour.

"Aa," he said, walking back to the building to get their bags. The others quietly followed the two, dejected about their search. When they all got their bags, they said their goodbyes and then dispersed. Tezuka, instead of going home, offered to take the girl home. The girl just nodded and accepted the hand that was offered to her.

Ryoma was really grateful to her sempai-tachi. They all pitched in to help find her lost cat, even though there was still no sign of her. She was also really grateful to Tezuka, for, if she was alone, she would definitely break down.

So, when he deposited her in front of her house, she called his name when he turned to walk back to the direction of his house. He looked at her, his eyes asking the question.

"Arigatou for helping me, Buchou. It means a lot," she said as she smiled slightly, letting him know that all the effort was appreciated.

"Nandemonai, Echizen. We'll find her tomorrow," was all the captain said.

"Un," she said, feeling lighter than she felt all day, knowing that their captain was on the case. He nodded and turned to the direction of his house.

* * *

><p>When he got back home, his mother wasn't there to greet him.<p>

'Strange,' he thought, as he looked at the empty hallway.

"Okaa-san?" he called out to the seemingly empty house.

"In the kitchen, Kunimitsu," a female voice answered.

Kunimitsu breathed a sigh of relief and went to the kitchen, wanting to help his mother with cooking. But then, he was greeted with a sight that made his heart pound in his chest.

"Meow," said the cat that was on the kitchen table, looking at him with clear blue eyes. The cat had long white and brown fur, which triggered something in his mind.

"Okaa-san, that is a Himalayan, is it not?" he asked his mother, who was currently stirring the contents of a pot.

"Aa. I found her in the backyard this morning. She looked so lost so I brought her in. I thought that I could run up a lost and found article in the newspaper so that she could find her owners," her mother, Tezuka Ayana, said as she smiled at her only son.

"Okaa-san, I think I know who her owners are," Kunimitsu said as he went to the cat and scratched the back of her ears, reducing it to a ball of purring fur.

"Really, Kunimitsu?" Ayana said as she turned to look at her son. She was really proud of how he turned out, although she herself admits that she would rather see his son more carefree than he is right now. Oh, well. It really is because of his grandfather's fault. But, now that he was already separated from the strict upbringing, wouldn't he be able to show more feelings?

She just mentally sighed, hoping that there would come a day when she could see her son smile again.

"Aa. I also know where her owners live. May I bring her there now?" Kunimitsu asked his mother, looking at her in the eyes.

Ayana's widened a moment, but her usual smile reappeared a second later.

"Of course, Kunimitsu," she said, watching as her son nodded his thanks, and then gently coaxed the Himalayan into his arms. Ayana then watched his son literally fly towards the front door in his haste, almost putting on different sets of shoes. Once he finished, he said his goodbyes and was out the door in record time.

Ayana just looked at the now closed front door and stared. When she came back to her senses, she resumed cooking with a brighter smile than she on a minute ago.

'I hope she's the one, Kunimitsu,' she thought happily as she stirred the stew she was making.

* * *

><p>Tezuka hurried towards the Echizen household, hoping that Ryoma would be the one to answer the door. He definitely would have an awkward time explaining to the rest on how he had gotten hold of the precious feline. Once he was there, he rang the doorbell and waited to see what would happen. When Ryoma went out of the door, he was so relieved that he didn't notice her peculiar staring at him. When he got back to his senses a second later, her gloomy aura was already enveloping her.<p>

"Buchou? Why are you here again?" Ryoma asked as she made a move towards their gate to speak with her captain.

"I brought you something," was the only response she got. She just sighed and unlocked the door. When she opened the gate, a loud meow came from somewhere along Tezuka's midsection. Before she could actually see, she felt the cat jump her, purring all the way.

"Karupin!" she said, her face morphing into one of utter relief and joy.

Tezuka was so surprised at the sudden change of facial expression that it had him mesmerized for a second. Then he suddenly realized he was staring, so he snapped out of it.

"My mother found her inside our compound. She took care of her all day," he explained, trying to will his growing blush away.

"Arigatou, Buchou," Ryoma said, giving the said captain a radiant smile that had the captain staring at her, again.

"It was nothing, Echizen," he managed to get out without stuttering. Then, their perfect moment was ruined by someone inside the house shouting at Ryoma to get back inside. Ryoma's smile disappeared, replacing it with a scowl as she shouted back. She then looked at Tezuka with an apologetic face.

"Che, that was my baka Oyaji. Anyway, thank you for everything, Buchou. Oyasumi," Ryoma said as she smiled at him once more before closing the door of the gate. Tezuka just nodded his goodbyes and walked back to his house robotically.

He now knew what the little voice inside his mind was saying a while ago. He did all of the things that made Echizen happy because, well, they make her happy.

'Wow. I guess this means I have a crush on her,' he thought, surprised at his own admission of his feelings. He just sighed audibly at this.

'No one must know, except her. Someday.'

* * *

><p>"Ne, Kei, you'll never guess what happened this day," Fuji was on his usual nightly talk with his boyfriend, one Atobe Keigo. He was on his bed, lounging on the routine he had.<p>

"Let me guess. Karupin took a little stroll, ne?" came the smug voice from the other side. Fuji opened his cerulean blue eyes and chuckled.

"Saa, you're worse than me, Kei," he lightly said, chuckling evilly.

"Of course. I had you for a teacher," the pompous diva said, his voice filled with love and adoration.

"I almost pity Tezuka," Fuji said casually as he turned around so that his stomach was laying flat on his mattress.

"Did you say you pity Tezuka?" the increadulous voice of the diva flitted through to his side. Fuji just chuckled evilly at the outburst.

"Kei, I said 'almost'."

"That's what I thought you said."

* * *

><p>Hahaha. Oh, and for those of you that were surprised at the sudden change of names in a part of the chapter it's because I don't want you guys to be confused with all the 'Tezuka' in there.<p>

So, read and review guys! Pretty please? :D


	9. Chapter 8

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN PRINCE OF TENNIS NOR ITS CHARACTERS. Sadly, life did not permit me to do so.

I'M BACK! Haha. Sorry for the long wait, minna! My muse died on me when I was on my excursion. Stupid school. :( Anyways, I managed to get this chapter together! Lucky! :D

Cathy Rin - Ah. That's a chapter of it's own. You just have to wait for it, ne? (winks)

MintLeafeon - Haha! Thank you! As you can see, I'm trying my best to follow the canon, but then, not follow it. Well, you'll just see what I mean, ne? :D Weeeeelll, don't blame the matchmaking pair now. They have a reason for doing this. And it's going to be a BIG BOMB. (smirks)

Hora! Chapter 8!

* * *

><p>Chapter 8: Ryoma the Tennis Coach<p>

"Ryoma-chan! Sakuno is downstairs," Nanako called through her door.

Ryoma sighed and sat up. And here she thought that she would finally get a nice relaxing Sunday just lounging on her bed and playing with Karupin. But NO. Someone almost always disturbs her.

'When will I get a rest from all the insanity?' she thought hopelessly as she trudged down to their living room, where an anxious Sakuno was located.

"Sakuno? What are you doing here? And why are you nervous?" Ryoma said as she sat and quickly eyed her female best friend. Sakuno was sitting in the plush sofa, squirming uncontrollably and fiddling with her thumbs.

"Erm. Ano, Ryoma-chan, I was wondering if, um," Sakuno stuttered, a slow blush creeping on her face.

"What is it, Sakuno?" Ryoma said, immediately feeling concerned for the girl. I mean, it really wasn't normal for the cheerful, bubbly Sakuno to act like this.

"Would you mind teaching me how to play tennis, Ryoma-chan?" Sakuno let it all out in one breath, barely making sense to Ryoma. Luckily, she caught the important parts of the sentence and looked at Sakuno like she had grown two heads.

"Sakuno, why would you like to learn? You don't have any interest in it," Ryoma said, completely bewildered as to why her best friend was asking such a strange request.

"Auntie said that I should be doing more exercises. She says I'm growing fat!" Sakuno wailed.

Ryoma sighed. She should've known. Old Ryuzaki was so obvious in her wish that her niece follow her footsteps in tennis that she herself doesn't see that all Sakuno cares about is her looks, shopping and boys.

"Are you absolutely sure about this, Sakuno? You know tennis. You can get dirty and grimy," Ryoma asked gently, trying to coax the girl to back out of her decision.

"No, I'm not sure, Ryoma-chan. But Auntie would be a lot happier if I learned tennis. You know how she is," Sakuno said as she looked at Ryoma with pleading eyes, silently begging her.

"Oh, alright. I'll teach you," Ryoma all but grumbled as she faced her squealing best friend.

"Oh, I love you, Ryoma-chan!"

"Quit it, Sakuno!

* * *

><p>"Che. What a bunch of losers," Ryoma said as she and Sakuno walked out of the courts of Ginka Middle School.<p>

You see, there they were, quietly practicing to get Sakuno used to the feel of tennis when the ball they were using flew off into the Ginka courts. And, of course, the stupid players thought that they could harass Ryoma and Sakuno to go out with them in return for the ball. So, Ryoma got fed up and ended up feeding them with Twist Serves.

"Arigatou for rescuing me, Ryoma-chan!" Sakuno bubbled as they walked further away from the carnage Ryoma did.

"Nandemonai."

Unknown to the two girls, there was someone watching them from the shadows.

"Seigaku, huh?" said a silver haired guy with the fiercest face you have ever seen, his eyes following Ryoma.

* * *

><p>"Ryoma-chan!"<p>

Ryoma hissed as her eardrums exploded by the shouts of one of the freshmen that were always cheering for her. She was currently nursing several wounds that a certain silver-haired hooligan just inflicted on her by serving a number of rocks at her.

She glared at the said teenager, who smirked at her.

"Save the revenge for our match, gaki. I'm Akutsu Gin, from Yamabuki."

* * *

><p>"Itai!"<p>

A shout of pain was heard throughout Seishun Gakuen. Students and teachers alike turned towards the sound, puzzled to as who made the sound.

In the infirmary, one Ryoma Echizen was still cringing as Oishi patched up her injuries.

"Echizen-chan, who did this to you?" Oishi said as he backed away from her, finished at checking her injuries.

"No one. I fell down the stairs," Ryoma said stubbornly, her eyes taking on a determined glint.

Oishi just stared at the stubborn girl with an exasperated face.

"Then why was Kachiro shouting down at the tennis courts that some guy from Yamabuki was hurting their poor Hime-sama?" Oishi asked as he looked at her reaction intently.

Ryoma said nothing, her eyes not meeting Oishi's.

"I thought so. Come on, Echizen-chan, the others are waiting for us in the clubroom," Oishi sighed as he walked towards the door and opened it, leaving it open for Ryoma to pass through.

Ryoma just sighed and went towards the door, resigning herself to an afternoon of insanity.

"Ochibi-chan! What happened to you!" Kikumaru said as he moved forward to glomp his favourite kohai, but was suddenly blocked by Momo.

"Eiji-sempai, she has bruises! You might make them worse!" he said as he restrained his hyperactive sempai.

"Momoshiro has a point, Kikumaru. Unless you want a hyperventilating Echizen, then I suggest you refrain from hugging her while she is still weak," Inui said as he adjusted his glasses.

"Fsssssh. The baka has a point," Kaidoh hissed, instantly sparking the inevitable fighting between himself and Momo.

"Who are you calling a baka, Mamushi?"

"You are, peach butt!"

"What did you say?"

"Ano, minna, you're going to get us into trouble!" Kawamura said feebly, trying to separate the two rivals.

"Hora, Taka-san," Fuji said as he handed Kawamura a tennis racquet, which immediately changed the meek sushi chef-in-training into his 'Burning Mode'.

"Hora! Stop fighting, you two! Or else Tezuka would give you 50 laps!" he shouted as he forcibly separated the two fighting rivals.

The aforementioned captain glared at their direction, making Fuji fluidly separate Kawamura and his tennis racquet, thus bringing out the meek personality of the power player. Tezuka sighed mentally but instantly shifted his focus back at the injured rookie.

Ryoma just sighed as she took the seat closest to the sanest person in the room, which would be Tezuka. Oishi glanced at Fuji briefly, a knowing look in his eyes, before sighing and taking a seat beside Kikumaru.

"Nothing happened, sempai. I fell from a set of stairs," Ryoma said deadpanned, immediately stopping the bickering of the others.

"Echizen, Kachiro said that some guy from Yamabuki attacked you," Momo said as he took one last scathing look at his rival before looking at the freshman with perceptiveness.

"Yup hoi! Lying is bad, Ochibi-chan!" Kikumaru added, nodding his agreement to Momoshiro's statement.

"I'm not. I fell down. Simple as that," Ryoma said stubbornly, causing their resident motherhen to sigh again and look at his teammates with a worried frown.

"She's been like that even in the infirmary," Oishi sighed, making the others look at Ryoma weirdly, but no one made a move to pester her more.

Tezuka just sighed. He looked at his teammates in slight exasperation.

'They mean well, but they don't understand her intentions,' he thought as he looked at the petite girl sitting quietly beside her.

He didn't pester her because he understood what her thoughts were. She was going to defeat that Yamabuki guy herself. She wasn't telling the others the truth because she rightly assumed that the team would go in her stead to defend herself. Tezuka sighed as he stood up, shifting the focus of the group to him instead of Ryoma.

"Minna, let's keep in mind that we are facing Yamabuki in a little while. It would not do to get ourselves disqualified for attacking students even if they did attack first. If any of you want to take on the intruder, I suggest to do it in the tennis courts," Tezuka said, watching as a determined glint entered the eyes of the regulars. After all, all of them wanted to protect their little rookie, didn't they?

"If anyone's taking Akutsu Gin down, it's me," Ryoma said, making Kawamura blink in shock at her words.

"Akutsu Gin?" he asked weakly, a shocked look on his face.

"Taka-san, do you know him?" Fuji asked him, a worried frown on his face. He had not seen his friend react this badly to a name before.

"A-Aa. I know him, Fuji. E-Excuse me, Tezuka, can I leave now? We don't have practice later, right?" Kawamura said distractedly, making Fuji's frown deeper.

Tezuka looked at Kawamura with an expressionless face, if not a surprised twinkle in his eyes.

"Aa," he said, making Ryoma look at him and raise an eyebrow.

Kawamura absentmindedly took his belongings and went out of the clubhouse, two pairs of eyes watching him closely. When Oishi asked Tezuka the standard questions for the meeting they held, Fuji toned them out and looked at Inui, sending a silent message. Inui saw the thrown look and nodded ever so slightly, signifying that he got the message but raised a finger, indicating that he'll wait a little while to start. Fuji sighed quietly and listened to the ongoing conversation.

"Anyways, minna, we need to guard Echizen-chan from now until we face Yamabuki in the courts," Oishi said as he looked at the girl with concern in his facial features.

"Why would I need guarding over, Oishi-sempai? I'm not a fragile jewel," Ryoma scoffed. She _hated_ being treated like that out of worry. She can take care of herself, thank you very much.

'But wouldn't you be glad if Tezuka agreed?' a small, truthful voice resounded inside her mind.

'NO!' she mentally screamed, totally ignoring the implications the tiny voice had said.

"Hoi, hoi! Oishi's right, Ochibi-chan! Let's vote! Who agrees that Ochibi-chan should have a bodyguard?" Kikumaru said as he raised his own hand. Almost all hands went up, excluding Tezuka's and Ryoma's.

"And who agrees it should be Tezuka?" the red-haired acrobat said, once again raising his hand in the process. The three matchmakers gleefully raised their own hands as well, prompting the two juniors to join in.

"Why does it have to be Buchou? And I don't need anyone to be my bodyguard!" Ryoma said angrily. She was concerned that the extra work of protecting her would cut into the model student's time.

"Well, he knows how to protect you, Echizen-chan. He's a black belt at Karate," Oishi said as a matter of factly, making Ryoma's eyes widen.

"And he knows you best, Ryoma-chan," Fuji said sweetly, making Ryoma look at him like he was out of this world and Tezuka glare at him.

"Yes, and he's the only one you trust," Inui said as he looked at the couple intensely, making Ryoma refuse to meet any of their eyes and Tezuka to be stiffer than he already is.

Ryoma sighed. She knew better than to keep arguing with her sempais.

"Alright, you win. As long as it's ok with Buchou," she added, looking at the thoughtful glint in his eyes.

Tezuka nodded, looking at her with concerned features, well, as concerned as they're gonna get.

Ryoma nodded, a shadow of a smile flickering through her features.

* * *

><p>"Ne, ne, Momo! Wanna eat burgers with me?" Kikumaru said as he locked arms with Momoshiro, making a certain fukubuchou flinch a little at the gesture.<p>

"Sure, Eiji-sempai! But, you're paying for me!" Momo said as he grabbed his stuff and exited the clubhouse quickly with a highly protesting Kikumaru in tow.

Oishi sighed as he looked at the now closed door before turning to grab his stuff as well, only to come face to face a contempletative Tensai.

"You know, you need to tell him. He won't get it until you tell it to him straight," Fuji said gently as he looked at his fellow matchmaker.

Oishi sighed. He knew he couldn't hide this for long, especially from Fuji. This was his best friend they were talking about here, after all.

"I know, Fuji, but, I just don't know how to tell him," Oishi said as he bonelessly slumped on the nearest bench.

Fuji sighed as he walked over to the motherhen. He sat beside him and laid a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"I just don't want to ruin our friendship, Fuji. I know he's not like that but there is still the chance that he will hate me," Oishi said, voicing his fears to the Tensai.

"Oishi, let me tell you something. Did you know that Eiji almost always forgives someone when they bring him his favourite flavour of toothpaste?" Fuji said as he looked at the motherhen's reactions.

Oishi's eyes widened at the piece of information he was given.

'I could just give that to him! And then he won't be mad at me!' His mind screamed at him to go for it.

'But won't that be breaking the trust we share?' a small voice said at the back of his mind. With that, Oishi's mind was made up.

"No, Fuji. I can't do that to Eiji. I'll be tricking him if I do that. I want to tell him that I love him, and if possible, for him to love me back, not trick him into loving me," Oishi said as he looked at Fuji in the eyes, daring the Tensai to prove him wrong.

To his surprise, Fuji just smiled wider and got up. He then got his stuff and moved towards the door. Before he opened the door though, he looked back at the stunned motherhen with a radiant smile.

"Then prove to me and Eiji that you won't betray the trust he has given you," he said as he walked away, happy that his best friend had found someone like Oishi.

* * *

><p>"Kei-chaaan~!"<p>

Atobe smiled as he looked at the direction of the voice. Sure enough, Fuji was walking towards him, a gentle smile on his face.

"Syuu, I thought I told you not to call me that in public?" Atobe mock frowned as his boyfriend approached him.

He was currently outside of his limosine that was currently situated at a nearby park from Seishun Gakuen. Well, it wasn't like he _wanted_ to pick up his lover so far from his school. But, his lover cleverly pointed out that for their matchmaking strategies to work, no one form the tennis team, well, except from Inui and Oishi seeing as they were also involved in their work, was to know that they have a connection, _especially_ Tezuka and Ryoma.

"Ah, but it really sounds so cute!" Fuji said as he stopped in front of him. Atobe just sighed as he gently pulled the smiling Tensai into the limo and immediately, the limo started to move.

"What has gotten to you, Syuu? You're really happy today," Atobe said as he let his lover snuggle up to him.

"Nothing. I'm just happy that my best friend has found someone who would care for him as much as you care for me, Kei," Fuji said as he looked at his boyfriend lovingly.

"Oh? So Oishi finally said something?" Atobe said as he gently carded his finger through Fuji's hair, making the Tensai sigh in contentment.

"He admitted his feelings to me, but that's enough to tell me he'll tell Eiji soon," Fuji said as he closed his eyes at the diva's ministrations.

Honestly, he had never felt so contented in his entire life. His family knew and supported their relationship. Heck, even Atobe's parents were ok with it as long as he produces an heir so they could still continue to be the ones handling the Atobe Corporations. Well, technology can deal with that fact. They could just get a surrogate mother or something, but the fact was, their whole family knew and accepted the fact that their sons were together. Well, in Fuji's case, his sister.

"Well, I'm happy for them, Syuu. Maybe now that Oishi's grounded he can stop being such a motherhen," Atobe said as he imagined the fukubuchou of Seigaku to stop smothering everyone, thus contorting his face to one of disbelief.

"Kei, you know that that will never happen," Fuji said as he giggled at Atobe's face.

"You're probably right. Now, what happened earlier? My bodyguards told me that there was a commotion earlier at your school. Did something happen to my cousin?" Atobe said, unable to bottle up the growl that escaped from him.

"Unfortunately, yes. Akutsu Gin happened. It seems Taka-san knew him because he was acting weird. I had Inui follow him to find out where he went," Fuji said, his mood turning somber.

"Ara. Don't worry, Syuu. I'm sure Inui will get his data," Atobe said, trying to convince himself and his lover.

"Aa. He never fails."

* * *

><p>PLEASE REVIEW GUYS! It would REALLY motivate me to update! :D<p>

Coming Up! Ryoma's match against Akutsu! And will Oishi get the courage to tell Eiji?

Stay hooked, people! :D


	10. Chapter 9

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN PRINCE OF TENNIS NOR ITS CHARACTERS! I own a Tezuka plushie though! :3

Minna, I'm BACK! Heck Yeah! Sorry if this took SO LONG. I just couldn't fit all of my ideas into one chapter. Trust me. I TRIED. That's why it was so hard to post. I didn't know if I should cut it or just leave it be. Meh. I decided to cut it. it was like 14 pages in MS Word. O.o

_OnePiecefan202_ - hey, thanks for sticking out for this story. It's gone really long now. Hope you see it through to the very end! :D

_xiiaogurlz_ - thanks for the review! Here's another chapter for you! :D

_Tokyo Tensai_ - haha. You're not the only one, believe me. Imagine if the pair was canon though. Even Inui and Renji together wouldn't be able to fend them off for too long. (shivers)

_lexibaby214_ - hehe. Sorry for the slow updates. My ideas get cramped up once in a while. Though admittedly this story is growing a mind of its own. I WILL finish it, so don't worry though. :D

And now, without further adeu, Chapter 9!

* * *

><p>Chapter 9: Revelations, and Inui's Data<p>

Ryoma sighed as she walked towards her house. Honestly, she was pissed. Beyond pissed. She knew her sempai-tachi were only doing this because they worry for her, but that's the thing. She _hated_ it when someone worries for her. She _hated_ it when she finds herself protected because being protected means that you can lower your guard down, and she doesn't want to do that again. She doesn't want to get too attached and then find herself reaching for another lifeline when the persons you trusted so implicably have turned their back against you. She doesn't want to end up like before.

"_Tou-san? Have you seen Aniki?"_

"_Hime-chan, Aniki's gone."_

She growled lowly. Now was not the time to revel in unpleasant memories. She still had to train to defeat that bastard Akutsu.

"Would you like something sweet to eat?"

The voice startled her back to reality. She looked to her right to find him staring at her patiently. Honestly, she didn't know if she was being fair to herself at all. She _knew_ she was attached. She _knew_ that even though she's thinking that being attached would be bad, she _already is_. She doesn't want to acknowledge it because it would be disastrous to get attached again. But, every time she says these things in her mind, her heart just shouts back that this was worth it. Ryoma felt a migraine creep up on her. All because of the guy walking beside her.

"Echizen?"

"A-Aa. Let's, Buchou. I know a good cafe here. Want to go there?" Ryoma said, stuttering in panic.

She mentally kicked herself for daydreaming,_ again_, when her crush was _right beside her_.

'I just hope he doesn't see this as a date or anything,' she thought, though inwardly she hoped that he would.

Tezuka looked at the petite girl beside him. Sometimes, he really just wants to tell her that he has a crush on her. But then, on the other hand, wouldn't it make the already antisocial girl to further herself away from him? No, he couldn't take that chance. She was only beginning to reveal herself to him and the team. He knew he couldn't be that selfish. So, he was left with only one choice. He had to bring out Ryoma out of her shell.

"Aa," he said, hoping inside that this would be counted as their first date.

When they arrived the cafe, a waitress immediately had them sat down to a booth that was partly secluded from view, but at the same time, could view the front of the shop. When the waitress asked them what would they order, Ryoma ordered a special chocolate parfait while Tezuka just ordered green tea ice cream. When the waitress went to get their orders, Ryoma looked at Tezuka weirdly.

"Ne, Buchou, your taste buds are suffering. In my whole time in Seigaku I haven't seen you eat anything sweet," Ryoma pointed out as she drank the glass of water that the waitress kindly poured out for them.

"I don't have a fondness for sweet things," Tezuka answered while he looked around.

He heard the tinkling of a bell, signalling that the cafe had another customer. When he looked, his eyebrows shot upwards towards his hairline in his surprise. Ryoma, who was gauging his reaction, looked in the direction he was looking at. She, too, was startled at the figure that had come in. The two watched as the figure went and sat with a pretty lady that was probably in her early twenties. The lady kissed the person's cheek, and then they started chatting.

"Ne, Buchou," Ryoma said a moment later, her voice thick with surpirise.

"Hmm?" Tezuka said, snapping out of his surprise when he heard Ryoma call him.

"I never knew Kawamura-sempai likes older women."

* * *

><p>A knock interrupted Atobe and Fuji's conversation as the knock was swiftly followed by Wataru bowing lowly.<p>

The couple was at the Atobe Mansion and was currently discussing their plans to further their work in the lives of Ryoma and Tezuka. So, when they were interrupted, Atobe was quite disgruntled.

"Keigo-sama, a visitor has just arrived. He claimed that you would let him in if I told you he had the aforementioned data with him," he said dutifully.

Upon hearing this, Fuji immediately nodded to Atobe, indicating that they should let the stranger in.

"Bring the guest here, Wataru," Atobe said as he waved the butler out. Wataru nodded, and dutifully slunk back to the door before opening and closing the door quietly.

When the door opened again, a certain data specialist was ushered in.

"Inui. What did you find out?" Fuji said as he looked at him, not at all bothered that he was practically spooned to Atobe's side.

Inui just adjusted his glasses and took a seat, showing that he was not at all shocked by what he had witnessed.

"I followed Taka-san just like you requested. I was following him at a certain distance when Momoshiro and Kikumaru crossed paths with Taka-san. They, of course, followed him. He didn't even notice. I revealed myself to the two and we stalked him to a cafe across town where he met with a lady-"

"Inui," Fuji said sweetly, immediately halting Inui's speech, and Atobe to look at his lover warily.

"Syuu, calm down," Atobe said as he tried to rub the other man's upper arm but was faced with a smiling face that practically said 'don't interrupt me', thus making the diva stand down.

"Inui, did you say a lady?" Fuji said, this time turning his 'sweet' smile towards Inui, to his credit, only flinched a couple of millimetres.

"You didn't let me finish, Fuji. The lady was actually related to Akutsu Gin-"

"Then why didn't you say that _earlier_, Inui? And how did you find out? Was he there?"

Inui sighed as he was interrupted, _again_.

"Syuu, calm down. Let Inui finish first," Atobe said as he caressed Fuji's cheek gently, making the other male lean in to the touch, thereby distracting him from his rage.

"Arigatou, Atobe. Now, we went inside the diner to try to hear their conversation. When we all finished ordering, Akutsu Gin showed up," Inui said hurriedly, having calculated someone would interrupt him, _again_.

"Akutsu Gin?" Atobe growled immediately, proving Inui to be correct.

"What was _he_ doing there, Inui?" Fuji asked in a voice laced with poison.

"I told you that he is somehow related to the lady with Taka-san. Akutsu sat with them. They tried to talk to Akutsu about something but then he poured Taka-san's drink on his head," Inui said gravely, watching as Fuji slowly opened his cerulean eyes.

"He is going down," he said quietly, yet it sounded as lethal as ever.

"There's more. Echizen and Tezuka so happened to be in the same cafe," Inui said, getting out his trusty notebook and flipping it to the right page.

"Really now," Atobe said, a smirk slowly starting to form on his handsome face.

"What happened?" Fuji said, momentarily forgetting his rage in favour of giving in to his curiosity about Ryoma and Tezuka.

"Echizen and Tezuka seemed to be talking when I noticed them. And yet Echizen was sneaking glances at Taka-san's table far too often. When Akutsu left, he happened to pass by Echizen, and she tripped him," Inui said, closing his notebook with a snap.

"She tripped him?" Fuji said, amusement filling his voice.

"Yes. And she issued a challenge on him for the next game," Inui said, glasses flashing in the light.

"Ah. So the pleasure of teaching that brute a lesson does not fall on me. No worries, then. She'll do alright," Fuji said contentedly, cuddling closer to Atobe.

"So, Syuu, promise you won't kill anyone of my team who beats your brother at our next game?" Atobe said, gaining Inui's attention.

"Saa. Be gentle."

* * *

><p>Ryoma sighed. It was the day before their match against Yamabuki. <em>BUT<em>. Instead of _practicing_ like they were _supposed_ to do, they were watching the match between Hyoutei and St. Rudolf. Why? Because her stupid cousin wanted her to support them. _Oh Joy_.

"Ryo!"

Ryoma sighed as she got tackled by her one and only cousin, Atobe Keigo.

"Ne, Kei, if you're so mighty, why are you acting like a five year old who just saw his mother?" Ryoma said, her sarcastic remark muffled by Atobe's clothes.

"Because, Ryo-chan! You're my cousin! And no one minds me like this, ne?" Atobe said, an aura of happiness radiating from him.

"Please excuse our kid of a captain, Tezuka-kun. I believe he took more than his share of coffee this morning," Oshitari said as the rest of Hyoutei came within hearing range.

"Aa," Tezuka said, nodding his acknowledgement of the statement.

"Oi! I did no such thing!" Atobe said indignantly.

No one paid him any attention.

"So, you guys ready to pulverize St. Rudolf?" Ryoma said, her eyes filled with pride.

"Of course, Ryoma-chan. We practiced very hard," Ootori said as he smiled at Ryoma.

"Hmp. More like Atobe ran us to the ground practicing," Shishido said as he slung an arm around Ootori naturally.

Ryoma smiled slightly as she looked at them. Yup, they're going to own St. Rudolf.

"Hold on a moment, Atobe."

Everyone ceased their chattering to look at Inui, who opened his trusty notebook and gave the Hyoutei captain a small glare.

"Don't underestimate them. Mizuki Hajime's predictions are often correct up to the scores. And he predicted that they would win ultimately at Singles Two," he said as a matter of factly.

"I know. That's why I'm playing Singles Two," Atobe said, going back to his snobby persona.

"Ne, ne, Inui, do you know St. Rudolf's line-up?" Kikumaru asked as glomped Oishi, who was slowly building up color on his face.

"Not entirely. Mizuki is good at keeping that secret. What I do know is that Fuji Yuuta would be playing in Singles Three while Mizuki himself would be playing Singles Two," Inui said as he adjusted his glasses.

"Fuji Yuuta?" Ryoma said, perking up at the sound of the name.

"Aa. You know him, Echizen?" Inui said, his eyes narrowing behind his glasses, thinking about the worst possible scenario for their plans.

"Aa. We met him yesterday, ne, Buchou?" Ryoma said while looking at Tezuka.

"Aa," Tezuka said, trying not to blush at the memory.

"Oh? Isn't yesterday the day Ochan turned ballistic because you came home piggybacked by a certain someone?" Atobe said, trying his best not to chuckle at the blush of his cousin.

"Urusai," Ryoma said, tugging down her cap to hide her blush.

"Oh? Why was the gaki piggybacked home?" Hiyoshi suddenly said, his curious eyes boring on Ryoma.

Everyone looked at the female prodigy, prompting her to tell the story. Ryoma just sighed and relayed what happened yesterday.

* * *

><p><em>Flashback<em>

"_Everyone! Practice is now over! First years, pick up the balls," Tezuka said as the members nodded to show that they heard right._

"_Buchou, can I wash up first before going home?" a voice to his immediate right said. _

"_Aa," he said as he looked at the female rookie._

'_She looks like someone dumped mud on her,' he immediately thought, looking at her unbelievably messy clothes and slightly rumpled cap._

"_Gomen ne, Buchou. Inui-sempai's training my strength today. I couldn't handle the heavy power shots Kawamura-sempai gave to me. I stumbled a little. I won't take long," Ryoma said, already moving towards the clubhouse._

_Now, the members knew that a girl in the Boys' Tennis Club would mean that the said girl would also use their facilities. So, they made a few changes. When Ryoma was about to enter the clubhouse, she was to knock three times consecutively so that the boys changing inside would know it was her. When all things that must not be seen by a girl were covered, they would shout back to her then she would enter. She also had a section of the showers and changing room all to herself._

_Tezuka sighed to himself as he himself went inside the clubhouse to change out of his jersey. When he was done, he looked around for Ryoma, but was slightly surprised not find her leaning close to the door. He looked around and spotted Fuji near the lockers._

"_Fuji, where's Echizen?" he asked, letting a little concern lace his tone._

"_Ah. I heard the shower on her part of the shower room still running. I think she's still trying to scrub off the grime. Inui's really worried about her match with Akutsu," Fuji said, a frown on his handsome face._

"_Aa," Tezuka said as he sat down the nearest bench, waiting for his charge._

"_Ja ne, Tezuka. Yuuta is going to be home tonight so I better cook something special," Fuji said, a creepy smile on his face as he went past the door._

_Tezuka just felt bad for the youngest Fuji sibling._

"_Buchou? Where are my shoes?" a voice said behind him. When Tezuka turned around, he saw Ryoma rubbing a towel on her hair as she flicked some of her stuff out of her locker so she could find her shoes. Alas, no luck._

"_They aren't in you locker?" Tezuka said, concerned that there was a thief on their tennis club._

"_Yeah. How can I go home? My training shoes are gone too!" Ryoma said as she looked at Tezuka with wide eyes._

_Tezuka just sighed and went to his own locker. He pulled out his own shoes and gave them to Ryoma._

"_Here. Try walking with these on," Tezuka said. Ryoma just sighed as she put them on. She took a couple of stesp forward and was rewarded with her tripping up._

"_Itai," she said, rubbing the part of her arm that collided with the floor._

_Tezuka sighed. This was really going nowhere. Just then, the door to the clubhouse opened and in came a dishevelled brown haired guy with an x on his cheek._

"_Yuuta?" _

_The brown haired guy looked at Tezuka and smiled._

"_Tezuka-san. Have you seen Aniki? He was supposed to wait for me here and we'll walk home together," the boy said as he glanced around the almost empty clubhouse. When his eyes landed on Ryoma sprawled on the floor, they got impossibly big and he began to gain color on his face and stutter._

"_A-Ano, gomenasai, Tezuka-san! I didn't mean to intrude on a private moment!" he said, bowing very low._

_Ryoma looked at Yuuta like he was crazy but Tezuka just sighed. He told the blushing teen to right himself up and told him their situation._

"_Oh. Well, I think that-" Whatever he was going to say died on his throat as his cell phone suddenly blared to life._

"_Excuse me a second, Tezuka-san, Echizen-san. Hai? Eh? Aniki? Why aren't you here in Seigaku? Eh? You're cooking tonight? Oh. Okay then. I'll just see you there," Yuuta said then switched off his phone._

"_Sorry, Tezuka-san, Echizen-san. I need to go. Aniki's wondering where I am. Oh, and as for your problem, you'll just have to carry her! Ja!" Yuuta said as he dashed towards the school gates. _

_Tezuka and Ryoma just looked at the direction he went dumbfoundedly._

_Finally, Tezuka sighed as he crouched down with his back to Ryoma, urging her to hop on. Ryoma just blinked for a second and consented, a smile on her lips._

"_You're getting soft, Buchou."_

"_Not a word, Echizen."_

_End Flashback_

* * *

><p>"Are, are, what do we have here, ne? Ufufufu," An arrogant voice, one to rival even Atobe's flitted to their side, making the Hyoutei regulars stiffen.<p>

Ryoma sighed. She couldn't wait to sleep off all the accumulated drama.

* * *

><p>And it's done! Well, you guys noticed that Yuuta still has to go into the story, right? I made him not that angry at Fuji, so he's like that. And St. Rudolf also has to fight Hyoutei. Wonder how that would go, ne? :)<p>

Aaaand, the battle between Ryoma and Akutsu AND Yuuta and whoever fights him (who do you want it to be? well, excluding Atobe that is.) is after this, I PROMISE.

And so, Read and Review! Pretty please? :D


	11. Chapter 10

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN PRINCE OF TENNIS NOR ITS CHARACTERS IN ANY WAY

I'm back! Yeehaw! Sorry for the late update. It was my pre-finals week. So. Many. Freakin. Projects. I hate university. :|

_animelover4ever69_ - oh, how right you are! Haha. There's more where that came from. The climax will be next chapter. Wait for it, ne? :D

_Tokyo Tensai_ - thank you! Haha. You don't know how right you are about Mizuki. :) Here's the next one! :D

_lexibaby214_ - haha. Thanks for sticking out with this story! Here's the next one! :D

_emliy02, skidney_ - Thanks for the compliments and the reviews! :D

_to the anonymous akiko_ - here's the next one. Sorry for the late update. :(

Hora! Chapter 10!

* * *

><p>Chapter 10: Mizuki Hajime and Akutsu Gin<p>

"Ah, my, what do we have here? A meeting? Are Hyoutei that scared of us? Ufufufu," a violet haired guy said as he and his team went closer to the others, making the Hyoutei members bristle.

"Ano, Mizuki-san, please don't make them mad," Yuuta said as the rest of his teammates shook their heads at the arrogance of their trainer slash regular.

"I am not, Yuuta-kun. I'm merely stating a fact," he said pompously, totally ignoring the icy aura coming from the Hyoutei captain.

"Why you insolent-," Atobe began but stopped immediately when a small petite hand held on his arm.

"Drop it, Kei. This guy's not worth it," Ryoma said as she looked at Atobe sternly. Atobe looked livid, but decided against doing anything, thus causing Mizuki to scoff.

"Hmp. Now, who said that Atobe was the Ice Emperor," Mizuki said scathingly, only to trail at the end when his eyes landed on Ryoma. He stared at her for a moment, causing the girl to shift her glare onto him, instead. This caused Mizuki to snap out of his trance and, surprisingly, his attitude changed.

"Ah. Now I understand. To be able to refuse the request of such a fine specimen as yourself would be a definite blow to his chivalry. Forgive me for speaking such nonsense. As such, would you mind going with me to a cafe near here later as a prize for when we win?" he said, his eyes trained on Ryoma, again not noticing the shocked expressions of everyone around them.

"A-ano, Oishi, is that the same guy?" Kikumaru asked, his jaw scrapping the ground.

"I'm not so sure, Eiji," Oishi said weakly as he assessed his best friend's reaction. Surely, if they were getting somewhere with Tezuka, he would say something right now?

"Ne, ne, Yuushi, can we wake Jirou up so he can kick this guy's butt?" Mukahi's glare was as sharp as his words.

"I think that pleasure would fall upon Seigaku since she's their teammate," Oshitari said quietly, adjusting his glasses.

"Tezuka, can I have the pleasure?" Fuji said as he stepped forward with a scary smile.

Yuuta, upon seeing his Aniki's smile, carefully dragged his other teammates away from their crazy trainer.

"Minna, carefully back away from Mizuki-san. I don't want any of you to be scarred for life," Yuuta said quietly, leading his team away from the chaos.

"Why, Yuuta? What's going to happen?" Yanagisawa, their supposed captain, asked him curiously.

"Nothing anyone should see. Aniki has that smile on his face. You do _not_ want to mess with him if he has that smile. You'll never be the same again!" Yuuta said as they stopped at a considerable distance from the others.

Oh, he _knew_ what happens next when his Aniki smiles like that and it wasn't going to be pretty. He just prayed that Mizuki would still be able to play after his Aniki was done with him.

"Can I help, Tezuka? I _have_ been in need of a guinea pig for my latest inventions. Ufufu," Inui said as he also stepped forward menacingly, his evil smile firmly affixed on his face.

The other Seigaku players were wisely keeping out of the duo's way, the Hyoutei members following tact, with them restraining a very, very irritated diva.

Tezuka looked at Ryoma, waiting for her to consent. The emerald haired female prodigy just stared at Mizuki with hateful eyes.

"You _dare_ ask me out after insulting my friends and my cousin? You. Are. An. Idiot. I already like someone, so butt out! If I hear any more confessions from you, I swear, _I am going to make you a woman!_" she said with a snarl, causing the males in the vicinity to flinch and cover their private parts from the irate female.

Mizuki just stared at her with a dumbfounded face.

Ryoma flipped her hair and looked at Tezuka with an almost smiling face.

"Let's go, Buchou. Better not get caught with this idiot," she said as she led all of her friends away from the stock still violet haired trainer of St. Rudolf.

Tezuka consented, his lips twitching upwards ever so slightly. Those who were observing his reactions shared a private grin, happy that they were making progress.

* * *

><p>"Who taught you that shot, Yuuta?"<p>

Yuuta shivered at the cold tone his Aniki used to address him. He looked behind him to find his Aniki, with a displeased frown, with a scowling Ryoma and a frowning Tezuka.

"Mizuki-san did, Aniki. Why are you so mad?" Yuuta said, his eyes holding a confused light in them.

"Didn't you feel it, Yuuta?" Ryoma asked, her burning gaze directed on Mizuki, who was smiling and giving her flying kisses.

"What?" Yuuta said, moving towards the chain fence, hoping to calm his Aniki down. But when he extended his playing arm, a sharp pain made him hiss and clutch said arm tightly.

"That. The shot places a heavy burden on your arm. Don't use it anymore if you still want to play tennis after this, Yuuta," Ryoma said as he gazed at the stern expression in her face.

"Why do you care? I just met you," Yuuta blurted out, confused because of her concern.

Ryoma blinked at the sudden question. But then, she half-smiled at him, making Fuji blink and Tezuka to gaze at her fondly.

"Because I don't want to see a budding professional ruin his career in front of me," she said as she gazed at the courts, her mind not totally on what she was saying.

Yuuta blinked.

'Well, if this is the girl Aniki and his friends chose for Tezuka-san, I would have to agree,' he thought as he watched Tezuka called her name and she immediately snapped out of her daydream and looked at him.

"Alright. I promise not to use it anymore. Though I will probably lose," Yuuta said as he gazed at his opponent.

"For a narcoplectic, he's really good," he continued as he gazed at the now bouncy boy across the court, talking to Atobe like a kid would to his dad. Minutes ago, the redhead was still sleeping. He never thought that he would be much of a threat. How wrong he was.

Fuji paused in his mental torture of Mizuki and gazed at his Otouto. He'd _never_ heard him say something about someone with that kind of tone. He smirked mentally, preparing to whip up some pretty good plans on how to set up his brother with a certain narcoplectic redhead.

* * *

><p>"Game and match! Won by Akutagawa of Hyoutei, 7 games to 5!"<p>

Shouts were heard from the side of Hyoutei and a rousing chorus of "Hyoutei!" was heard through the entire tournament grounds.

Yuuta plopped down on the courts, exhausted but feeling good about the score.

'At least I didn't give up,' he thought mentally, looking at his Aniki to see if he was still mad. To his horror, his Aniki was talking to Atobe with a scary smile on his face.

"Mizuki-san's going to need insurance once Atobe-san's done with him," Yuuta groaned as he face palmed.

"Well, Atobe really cares about you too, you know," a voice said.

When Yuuta looked up, a hand was extended towards him, urging him to stand up. He grabbed the offered limb and stood up. When he looked at the person who helped him up, he was so shocked he was pretty much imitating a goldfish.

"What? Is me talking to you that bad of a thing?" Jirou asked innocently, curious to why Yuuta was pretty much making himself look like a total idiot.

"Err, no. It's just. I was surprised, that's all," Yuuta said nervously, eying the redhead shyly.

"You're funny, Fuji-kun," Jirou said, a bright smile on his face as he looked at Yuuta with glee.

"Err. Thank, I guess?" Yuuta said, his face slowly morphing into an embarrassed one.

"Come on. Let's get out of this court while we still can! I want to watch the carnage Atobe leaves!" Jirou said as he grabbed Yuuta's arm and proceeded to bodily drag him from the courts, smiling all the while from Yuuta's sputtered indignations.

"Singles Two between Mizuki of St. Rudolf and Atobe of Hyoutei will now commence. Will the two players go to the court now."

The two players went to the court. As they faced each other, sparks could clearly be seen between them.

"Is the temperature dropping?" Kawamura asked, shivering slightly.

"Atobe's work, Kawamura-san," Hiyoshi said as he watched the two players try to stare each other down.

"Ah. Atobe. I've gathered all of your data. Let me make my prediction. You'll win the first game easily. Then I'll win ultimately and get my prize from the lovely lady outside of the courts," Mizuki said as he twirled his locks while gazing at the fuming silver haired diva.

"Kei, slit his throat, if you will," Ryoma's voice floated down to the courts, making everyone shiver at the sickly sweet tone she used.

Atobe just smirked at the devastated look on Mizuki's face.

"My pleasure, Ryo."

* * *

><p>"Game and match! Atobe of Hyoutei, 7 games to 5!"<p>

"Kyaaa~! Atobe-sama!"

"Atobe! Atobe! Atobe!"

Atobe smirked as he left the courts, leaving behind a severely traumatized Mizuki. When he approached his team, they all smirked at him. Well, excluding Jirou. He was still pestering a red-faced Yuuta.

"Well done, Kei. Though, did you really have to ditch those five games?" Ryoma's voice flitted to them. He turned around to find Seigaku, all smiling their congratulations.

"Of course, Ryo. I had to let him believe that he was correct in his predictions," Atobe said as he smirked at his cousin.

"Arigatou, Atobe," Fuji said, his smile turning dangerous.

"Of course, Fuji. He deserved it," Atobe said, careful not to put more than the necessary fondness in his voice. Fuji would kill him if anyone but those in on their plans discovered that they were together.

"Now, we won our matches, gaki. Wanna bet that you'll lose yours tomorrow?" Shishido said as he smirked down at his adoptive little sister. Ryoma just smirked back, not bothered by the curious stares of the St. Rudolf players and passersby.

"You're on, Ryou."

* * *

><p>"I knew it! We shouldn't have put her against Akutsu! She's not strong enough!" Oishi said as they watched a badly bruised Ryoma shakily stand up after being blown away by the force of Akutsu's shots.<p>

They were currently in the match against Yamabuki and things were going great, at first. As usual, Oishi and Kikumaru snagged their doubles game as did Momoshiro against Sengoku. Unfortunately, Kawamura and Fuji lost because of Kawamura's injury, much to Seigaku's dismay. So, the fated Singles Two arrived and everyone had baited breaths about Ryoma going up against the ruthless Akutsu Gin. But then, when Ryoma started out the game by using her Drive A on the bastard, cramming his face spot on, they thought that she had a chance. Oh, how wrong were they.

"Calm down, Oishi-san. You're stressing your heart!" Ootori said worriedly as he watched Seigaku's motherhen twitch in his seat.

What was Ootori doing there? To repay the favour of Seigaku watching their game yesterday, Atobe had the entire team watch Seigaku this day. So, that means that instead of the usual mothering by Oishi, both teams were suffering from the panic overload by both Oishi and Ootori.

"Oishi! Have faith in Ochibi-chan, nya!" Kikumaru said as he hugged the motherhen, which immediately pacified him.

Fuji just chuckled quietly at their antics. Oishi was so obvious with his feelings it's a wonder Kikumaru doesn't see it.

'I wish it could be the same for Tezuka,' he thought as he gazed at the block of a captain. The said captain was steadily watching the match making no move-

'Hold on. Is his hand shaking?' Fuji's eyes opened as he looked at the tightly clenched hand of Tezuka.

'Well, time to up the ante,' Fuji mentally chuckled.

"She really is one of a kind, ne, Tezuka?" Fuji said quietly so that only Tezuka could hear him.

"Aa," he said, not even looking once in his direction.

'Ah. Plan 1, success. Time to move on to Plan 2,' Fuji thought as he excused himself from Tezuka.

Once he was out of earshot of the Seigaku regulars, he whipped out his phone and dialled a number. The line picked up and a female voice flitted through the receiver.

"Hello? Move the date to tomorrow, ne? It seems he's progressing quite nicely," Fuji said , a dark chuckle escaping his lips.

"Ahh. And as for her? What's your plan?" the female voice said, getting quite giggly at the end.

"Well move forward as well. I think she reciprocates," he said as he saw Atobe come towards him.

"Hmm. I'll have to check on that. Thank you for including me in this, Fuji-sempai," the female voice said as she said her goodbyes and hung up.

"Was that who I think it was?" Atobe said once he put his phone back in his pocket.

"Aa. It was. They're ready for it, it seems. How is the match?" Fuji said as he and Atobe went back to the bleachers.

"Take a look for yourself," Atobe said as he pointed towards the court. There was Ryoma, kicking the heck out of Akutsu.

* * *

><p>It was not long before the referee shouted that Ryoma won the game. And Akutsu, instead of going berserk, laughed.<p>

"Oy, gaki!"

"What?" Ryoma said, deadpanned as Akutsu came towards her.

"Nice game. Go out with me," he said, smirking all the way. The Seigaku and Hyoutei regulars all looked at Akutsu like he was crazy. And Fuji was chuckling mentally at the dark aura Tezuka was spouting.

"As if. Move. I already have someone in mind," Ryoma said as she made to go towards the others but a hand suddenly grabbed her arm. She looked at Akutsu, her eyes spitting fire.

"Let go," she said, her voice dripping with poison.

"I wasn't giving you a choice," he said, checking her up.

'Why this good for nothing-' Ryoma thought as she tried to pull her arm away from Akutsu's grip, to no avail.

"Let go of my regular," a deep voice resounded, startling Ryoma from her mental tirade. She looked at the source of the voice and found her Buchou, looking like he wanted nothing more than to pummel Akutsu to the ground.

"Buchou," Ryoma said, relieved that her Buchou was rescuing her.

"Let go of this trophy woman? I don't think so," Akutsu scoffed, looking at Tezuka evilly.

"Trophy woman? Who do you think I am, bastard?" Ryoma snarled, trying to knee him in his most sensitive place. Unfortunately, Akutsu had some training in karate and had evaded the blow.

"Enough. Men, arrest this man for harassing my cousin," Atobe's commanding voice said, prompting 20 men in black suits to try and grab him. Note the word try.

"Hahaha. You think you could get me using those untrained men? This trophy woman is going with me. I claim her as mine!" Akutsu said as he made to grab her again, seeing as he let her go when he fended off the men. Only to find his hand knocked away by Tezuka, who moved to shield Ryoma from Akutsu.

"You're wrong, bastard. I'm already taken by Buchou," Ryoma's voice scathingly said, surprising Akutsu. The men took this advantage and got a hold of him and began dragging him away. Akutsu just stared at Tezuka weirdly. Just when he was out of ear range, he shouted a mind-shaking sentence.

"I'll be back to take what is mine, Tezuka. She will be mine!"

Tezuka watched as the men drag Akutsu away from them. Like hell he was going to give Ryoma to that man. She deserved someone better.

'Like you?' his inner voice smugly said, eliciting a sound of approval from Tezuka himself.

'I'll protect her. I'll become worthy of her,' he silently vowed to himself, looking at the object of his affections glaring at the direction Akutsu went.

"Oro. Are you two together, Ryoma-chan? Tezuka?" Fuji asked as the others went towards them, with the matchmakers holding identical grins.

"I said that to fend him off," Ryoma scoffed as she grabbed Tezuka's arm and began to drag him away, the others just chuckling from her antics.

Tezuka just sighed at their teasings. Though no one but himself heard the quietly muttered sentence that had him blushing as red as a tomato.

"Though I wouldn't mind that becoming true."

* * *

><p>Jajan! Hope you guys enjoyed that! Oh! The next one would be nice, I promise! Though, if you guys don't really like fluffy stuff, I guess it's not for you. But, meh. Everyone WOULD like to know how they end up together so I guess it's ok.<p>

OKAY! Enough of my ramblings. Read and Review for me to get all motivated to write Chapter 11! :D


	12. Chapter 11

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN PRINCE OF TENNIS NOR ITS CHARACTERS! Or else, Ryoma would be a girl and was happily dating Tezuka by now. ;D

What a crappy week! Dang! Sorry for the long delay in updating but it seems someone out there doesn't want me to update! After my laptop crashed, a typhoon came and knocked out the power, erasing all my files. DAMN. Thank goodness for my notes in my notebook, or else I would have NEVER posted again! But no worries! I managed! :D

_MintLeafeon_ - haha! Yup, he definitely is! Though there wouldn't be any JirouxYuuta in this chapter, but I still hope you enjoy it! :D

_Tokyo Tensai_ - haha! But, you have to admit, it really fits in with his personality, ne? :D I COMPLETELY AGREE! Haha! Though, I'm going to be evil with him and make him as straight as an arrow, ne? :) Oh! You don't have to worry about that, ne? I'm going to finish this all. Hope you're still reading this when I'm through! :D

_Summer ice7_ - haha! Sorry if it had that effect on you, but I just had to do it! Haha! I couldn't think of anybody else fitting in the "catalyst" of the two, so I just made it Akutsu. :)

_March Rosenqueen_ - haha! Thank you for the compliment! Oh, it will. Trust me. :) Well, their first date will just be a few more chapters so stick with me okay? :D

_emliy02, animelover4ever69, skidney, pinaygurl28, Kanberry _- thank you guys so much for the reviews! Here's the next chapter! :D

Here it is! What you've all been waiting for! ;D

* * *

><p>Chapter 11: Mission Success!<p>

"Ryoma-chan! Hurry! Hurry! My friend is going to leave without us if we don't get to the meeting place in 10 minutes!" Sakuno said as she bounced a circle around Ryoma.

"Honestly, Sakuno. Where do you get energy this early in the morning? And it's SUNDAY, for Kami's sake. And another thing, I just won the game against the bastard sexist _yesterday_," Ryoma huffed sleepily, yawning as she finished her tirade.

"But Ryoma-chan~! That's why we're doing this! To celebrate your victory against Akutsu and your victory for all women out there!" Sakuno said as she calmed down slightly and gave her her special Sakuno Puppy Dog Pout.

Ryoma sighed as she took in her best friend's appearance.

"Alright. Alright. Jeez, Sakuno. One day, you're going to be the death of me," Ryoma grumbled. Sakuno just giggled and poked her in the cheek.

"You know you love me, Ryoma-chan!"

* * *

><p>When they got to a local park, for that was their rendezvous point, they were greeted by a brown haired girl with pretty pink hairclips in her hair.<p>

"Sakuno! Over here!" said girl waved them over.

"You look kind of familiar," Ryoma said, puzzled to where she saw the girl.

"Oh! Maybe because she's the sister of Fudomine's captain!" Sakuno said as she greeted the girl with a brief hug.

"Yeah. My name's Ann Tachibana. Yoroshiku," Ann smiled at Ryoma, who was looking at her with a lost expression.

"When did you two meet?" she asked, looking at her best friend and then back at Ann.

"The Fudomine game. She was really impressed that you got into the regulars and you're a girl so she really wanted to meet you. So, here we are! And we're all going to the karaoke bar to celebrate!" Sakuno said as she pumped her hand up in the air, taking a firm grip on Ryoma's arm at the same time seeing that the girl was already in her 'fight or flight' mode.

"ALL of us are going, Ryoma-chan! No escaping!"

"No, Sakuno! NO!"

"Why are you so afraid of going there, Ryoma-kun?" Ann asked as she looked at the two squabbling best friends in amusement.

"I HATE singing!" Ryoma said vehemently as she tried to pull away from Sakuno's death grip, to no avail.

"You're going with us, Ryoma-chan, whether you like it or not!"

"Yadda!"

"Ann-chan, help me here, would you?"

"Sure!"

"YADDAAA!"

* * *

><p>"Fuji," a smooth baritone voice devoid of all emotions said.<p>

"Yes, Tezuka?" Fuji asked, his voice laced with amusement.

"Why are we at a karaoke bar?" Tezuka asked, looking at the Tensai with a confused light in his eyes.

"To celebrate, of course," Fuji said as he smiled and went inside. Tezuka just sighed and shook his head.

'Honestly, I give up,' he thought, giving up all intentions of understanding what goes on in the head of the prodigy. He followed Fuji and ended up in a room that would fit all of the regulars and some others fairly well. Tezuka just sighed mentally and sat down on the nearest sofa.

"Hmm. The others are late," Fuji said quietly, frowning slightly.

Just then, a thudding sound was heard by the two and moments later, a disheveled Oishi was being dragged there by a bouncing Kikumaru. Kawamura followed the two, his face contorted to an uncomfortable expression as he listened to Inui spouting data beside him as they watched Kaidoh and Momoshiro duke it out in a staring contest.

"Minna, enough," Tezuka said sternly, breaking the fight between Momoshiro and Kaidoh and focusing the attention of the others on him.

"Eh? Where is Ochibi-chan?" Kikumaru asked, searching the whole room for the said girl.

"They're not here yet, Eiji," Fuji said, a smile replacing his frown, his eyes opening slightly to reveal cerulean eyes.

"They?" Kawamura asked, confused of the use of pronoun.

Just then, a loud crash was heard by the people inside the room and a very loud shout was heard throughout the entire building.

"SAKUNO, I DON'T WANT TO SING!"

The regulars all sweatdropped.

"Echizen sure has a set of pipes in her," Momoshiro whistled, impressed.

"She isn't Echizen if she wasn't like that, Momoshiro," Inui said as he adjusted his glasses.

Murmurs of agreement were heard in the room before the door burst open to reveal a grinning Sakuno dragging a heavily protesting (and struggling)Ryoma in with the help of a pretty brown haired girl with pink hairclips.

"We're here and accounted for, Fuji-sempai!" Sakuno bubbly said as Fuji chuckled.

"Inui, please do as I instructed please," Fuji said, looking at Inui with a dark smile.

Inui nodded and moved to the door. He went out for a moment and then came back, a creepy smile on his face. Just then, a loud click was heard throughout the silent room.

"Ano, Inui, was that the lock?" Kawamura asked tentatively, sweatdropping.

"Aa," the data master answered as he adjusted his glasses.

"Sakuno."

Everyone except for Tezuka, Inui and Fuji visibly shivered at the cold tone Ryoma used. The said girl was spouting such a dark aura that the bright room suddenly became darker.

"Ryoma-chan, it's for your own good," Sakuno said, her voice never wavering even though her body language was screaming 'Run for it!'

Ryoma just said nothing and sat down next to Tezuka, her eyes still bright with anger.

"Um, ano, what are you doing here, Ryuzaki-san?" Oishi asked the still shaking girl, wanting the mood to lighten. To his surprise, the girl immediately latched on the provided distraction and burst into a fit of forced giggles.

"I was invited by Fuji-sempai to celebrate sempai-tachi's victory against Yamabuki yesterday! He said that Hyoutei couldn't come because they were setting up Akutagawa-san with someone, so he asked me to come and bring a friend with me! And here she is!" Sakuno said as she gestured to Ann behind her.

"Konnichiwa, minna. My name's Ann Tachibana. Yoroshiku!" she said brightly, smiling at the group.

"Tachibana? Where have I heard that name before?" Momoshiro said, scratching his chin in thought.

"Baka. Tachibana's the name of Fudomine's captain," Kaidoh hissed back, but instead of the usual fight, Momoshiro just snapped his fingers and his eyes lit up in recognition.

"Oh! I thought I saw you in the street courts the other day!"

The regulars, sans Ryoma who was still in a bad mood, looked at Momoshiro in surprise. Even Tezuka's eyebrows lifted slightly. He just disregarded his eternal rival's bait for a fight for the new girl!

"Momo! Are you ok, nya?" Kikumaru screeched, barreling his way to Momo to put his hand on his forehead to check his temperature.

"Huh? Of course I'm ok, Eiji-sempai! Why wouldn't I be?" Momo said as he swatted Kikumaru's hand away. Only to be replaced by Oishi's.

"No, you're not! You never let a chance to fight with Kaidoh go! What's happening to you?" Oishi fretted as his hand was knocked away too.

"I told you, Oishi-sempai, I'm fine!"

"Ano, did I do something wrong?" Ann asked Fuji, who was closest to her at that time.

Fuji just smiled at Ann.

"No. I think we have to thank you, Ann-chan. Will you visit Seigaku more often?" Fuji asked, smiling sweetly.

"A-Aa. Now that I know Ryoma-san, I think I will visit pretty often," Ann said with a sweatdrop.

"Arigatou, Ann-chan. Now, minna, shall we start?" Fuji said as he gestured for Inui to give the list of songs to Sakuno.

"Yeah!"

"Now, who wants to go first?" Inui said, immediately acting as the DJ.

"I will, Inui-sempai!" Sakuno said as she got the list from him. As she browsed the list, the others talked either to Ann or grilled Momo on his strange behavior. Except for the two anti-socials.

Tezuka looked sideways to his right. Ryoma was still scowling badly.

'I wonder why she's so adamant in singing,' he wondered silently, pondering the choice of asking her. When a tiny, almost invisible tear dropped from her eyes, he made up his mind.

"Echizen," he said quietly so that only she could hear.

Ryoma furiously rubbed her eyes to rid of the moisture there before addressing him back.

"Yeah, Buchou?"

"Why are you so against singing?" he asked straightforwardly.

'Knowing her, she'll just clam up if I beat around the bush,' he thought.

Ryoma stiffened slightly. She was so silent that he was afraid he'd undone all the friendship they had built. But then, she sighed.

"You really want to know, Buchou?" she said, looking at him with her beautiful golden eyes.

Tezuka nodded, relieved that she wasn't turning her back on him.

"My brother loved my singing," she said, lowering her head slightly.

At Tezuka's prompting look, she told him everything that had happened 5 years ago.

* * *

><p><em>Flashback<em>

"_Ne, ne, Kei, let's go back to the house! Aniki said he had a surprise for us!" an 8 year old Ryoma said as she dragged a 10 year old Atobe Keigo towards the Echizen house in America. _

_They were currently in their backyard playing house when Ryoga, Ryoma's Aniki, called out to them to come inside the house because he has a surprise for them._

"_Ok, Ryo-chan!" Keigo said as he followed his cousin towards the house. When they got to the house, they found Ryoga all dressed up like he was going somewhere._

"_Aniki, where are you going?" Ryoma asked as she looked up at her brother that she treated like her whole world._

_He stiffened for a second but then, smiled at Ryoma._

"_I just got back from somewhere, Chibi-suke. Now, I hid something very special here in the house. Why don't you and Keigo have a contest to see who can find it first, ne?" he said as he pushed them towards the living room._

"_You guys start here, okay? I'll be outside if you guys find it," he said as he left the two cousins searching for something that was out of place._

_Moments passed but still the two children haven't found anything yet. They even expanded their search to the dining room and kitchen, but still, nothing suspicious was sighted._

"_Ryo? Should we search the bedrooms?" Keigo asked as he stood up from his crouching position._

"_Aa," she said as they went towards the master bedroom._

"_Find anything, Ryo?" Keigo asked as he looked under the enormous bed._

"_Iie. Let's look in my room next, Kei," she said. They went to Ryoma's bedroom and the first thing that they see is a large box that had holes at the top._

"_We found it!" Ryoma said as she squealed loudly._

"_What do you think it is, Ryo?" Keigo said excitedly as he quickly approached the box._

"_There's a note here!" he said as he fingered the white piece of paper taped to the side._

"_Can you read it, Kei?" Ryo said as she quickly bounded to her cousin's side._

"_Aa. It says, 'The white one is Ryoma's and yours is the black one, Keigo. Treat it and Ryoma well. Always protect her. And make sure that no one breaks her heart, ne? I'll come back soon. Ryoga.'" Keigo read, his face getting stonier and stonier with every word he read._

"_Kei, what does Aniki mean?" Ryoma said as she tugged at Keigo's shirt to get his attention._

"_Ryo! Quick! We have to tell Occhan about this letter!" he said as he quickly heaved Ryoma to her feet and, with her hand in his, quickly ran towards the front lawn of the house, where the adults were all talking about their cars._

"_Occhan!" Keigo yelled, catching the attention of the adults._

"_Keigo! That's not the proper way to address your uncle!" his mother, Atobe Emiko, scolded._

"_But, Kaa-san-!"_

"_Maa, maa. Let it slide, Emiko-neechan. Now, Kei-chan, what did you want to tell Occhan here?" his aunt, Echizen RInko said as she smiled at him warmly as she jerked her thumb in Nanjirou's direction, making the latter scowl slightly._

"_Please read this, Obasan!" Keigo said as he handed the paper to her, never once letting go of Ryoma's hand._

_When Rinko read the contents of the paper, she looked at Nanjirou with a panicked expression._

"_Nanjirou! Get inside the car, now! Nee-chan! Can you help us find Ryoga?" RInko said as she quickly pushed her husband towards their car._

_Emiko, quickly getting the picture, hurriedly bossed her husband to go to the driver to order them to search for her nephew._

"_Keigo, stay here for Ryoma-chan, ok?" Emiko quickly hugged Keigo and Ryoma before hopping into their limo and speeding away._

_As the cars sped away, Ryoma looked at Keigo with a confused face._

"_Kei, what's going on?" _

"_Nothing, Ryo. Let's just see what Ryoga-niisan left us, ne?" Keigo said as he gently tugged her hand towards her room. She looked dubious at first, but then her expression was replaced by excitement as she spotted the box again._

"_Kei, can you open it?" Ryoma said, her eyes looking at Keigo hopefully._

"_Aa. Let's see," Keigo said as he walked towards the box and carefully inspected it. When he saw that the box's top slid open, he smiled and beckoned Ryoma closer. There were scratching sounds coming from inside the box._

"_I'll open it on the count of three, ok? One, two, three!" he said as he slid the box open. _

_Ryoma gasped as she surveyed the contents of the box. Inside were two adorable Himalayan kittens. One was white but had brown fur on its face, ears, four paws and tail. When it looked up at them, they saw that it eyes were as blue as the sky. The other kitten was a pure black cat. But its four paws had silver fur, making it look like it was wearing silver boots. The black kitten meowed and scratched the box, looking at them with imploring silver pools._

"_Kei, they're so cute!" Ryoma squealed as she lifted the white one and cuddled it, making the kitten mewl and start rubbing her head against her chin._

"_Aa, they are. They're female, Ryo. What should we call them?" Keigo asked as he picked up his cat and started to scratch behind the ears, reducing it to a small ball of purring fur._

"_I'm going to call mine, Karupin! What will you call yours, Kei?" Ryoma said as she looked at the black cat._

"_Haruka," he said quietly, looking at the cat with sad eyes._

"_Why did you name her something so sad?" Ryoma said as she moved to pet the black cat._

"_Nothing. Ah, I hear cars, Ryo. Let's go see if Kaa-san and Obasan are back, ne?" Keigo said as he carried the cat in his arms and led Ryoma outside, where the four adults were just coming from their cars. Rinko was quietly sobbing while Emiko comforted her. Keigo's father, Atobe Hiro, was silently talking to his cellphone. Nanjirou was looking at the sky with a resigned expression._

"_Oyaji, where's Aniki?" Ryoma asked as she put down the Himalayan cat, which cuddled to her feet._

_Nanjirou turned to look at her, a sad smile gracing his features._

"_Hime-chan, Aniki's gone."_

_End Flashback_

* * *

><p>Tezuka looked at the petite girl beside her as she quietly finished her tale.<p>

"My brother loved my singing. Singing reminds me of him. That's why I don't want to sing. I don't want to remember the day he left," Ryoma said quietly, as music blared around them.

Sakuno had finished with her song, I'd Lie by Taylor Swift. Now, everyone had harassed Ann to sing after Sakuno so she sang My Heart by Paramore. Now, Kikumaru had taken the stage and is singing Marry You by Bruno Mars.

Tezuka looked at Ryoma with an almost gentle smile grazing his features.

"Ryoma," he said, making Ryoma look at him in surprise and amazement.

"You have to sing. If you want to forget the pain, the hurt, you have to sing," he continued, as he looked at her with a tender expression in his face, even though he wasn't smiling.

"Yosh! I'm done, nya! Who's next!" Eiji shouted as he finished his song.

"Ryoma-chan should sing this one with us! Ne, Ann-chan?" Sakuno said as she bounded for one of the microphones.

"If she wants, Sakuno-chan," Ann amiably said as she too got a microphone and went towards the stage to wait for Sakuno.

Everyone turned to look at the female rookie, waiting for her reaction. To their surprise, the said rookie had a smile on her face while looking at Tezuka, whose back was turned from them.

"Ryoma-chan!" Sakuno shouted, breaking the moment between the two, making the three matchmakers groan silently.

"Yeah?" Ryoma said, looking at Sakuno questioningly, all traces of anger absent from her features.

"Come on! Sing with us!" Sakuno said as she held the last microphone aloft, inviting Ryoma to take it.

Ryoma looked at Tezuka to see his almost invisible smile. She smiled a little herself and took the microphone from Sakuno, eliciting gasps of surprise from everyone.

Sakuno just smiled at her best friend. She finally had the courage to move from her pain.

'Now, while she's vulnerable, we're going to attack,' Sakuno mentally said, rejoicing that Fuji's plan is working flawlessly.

So, she dragged Ryoma to the stage and set up the machine to play the song they think would finally push the girl to admit what she feels about a certain brunette captain.

"Minna! Ryoma-chan's going to sing the lead! She knows this song so it's ok! We're just going to be the back-up!" Sakuno said into the microphone as the music started to blare to life.

When Ryoma heard the music, she looked at Sakuno with wide eyes and a shocked expression. But when the first verse came, she snapped out of her trance and sang in an awe-inspiring voice.

**(No chance. No way. I won't say it. No, no.)**

**If there's a prize for rotten judgment,**  
><strong>I guess I've already won that.<strong>

Tezuka's eyes widened a fraction. He hadn't been expecting _that_ song.

**No man is worth the aggravation**  
><strong>That's ancient history, been there done that<strong>

He cringed mentally. She really was still hurting from her brother's betrayal. That really is the reason why she's so anti-social. She's afraid of getting hurt again.

**Who ya think ya kidding,**  
><strong>He's the Earth and heaven too<strong>  
><strong>You try to keep it hidden,<strong>  
><strong>Honey we can see right through you<strong>

Ryoma sighed inwardly as she listened to her best friend and new found friend sing the rest of the verse. Now she knew what Sakuno's hinting at her. And, yeah, she's right. He really is her everything now.

**Girl you can't conceal it,**  
><strong>We know how ya feelin, who you thinkin' of<strong>

Tezuka looked at Ryoma when the girls sang the verse. She looked resigned and decided, like she worked out a big problem. When she sang the next verse, a light blush had started to creep in her features.

**No chance, no way, I won't say it, no, no**  
><strong>(You swoon, you sigh, why deny it uh, oh.)<strong>  
><strong>It's too cliche', I won't say I'm in love<strong>

Ryoma blushed slightly. She _acknowledged _that she liked Tezuka. Maybe even loved. BUT! She won't say she's in love with him NOW! WITH the REGULARS watching!

**I thought my heart had learned its lesson**  
><strong>It feels so good when you start out<strong>  
><strong>My head is screaming "get a grip girl."<strong>  
><strong>Unless you're dying to cry your heart out (Oh no)<strong>

'What are you doing Sakuno!' Ryoma mentally screamed as Sakuno circled around her and winked at her as she mouthed, 'Tell him!' before launching into their part.

**You keep on denying who you are and how you're feeling**  
><strong>Baby we're not buyin', hun we saw you hit the ceiling.(Oh no)<strong>  
><strong>Face it like a grown up, when you gonna own up<strong>  
><strong>That you got, got, got it bad<strong>

Tezuka stared at Sakuno. She just mouthed 'Tell him!' to Ryoma!

'Tell who what?" he asked himself, looking at Ryoma, who was by now the color of a tomato.

**No chance, no way, I won't say it, no, no**  
><strong>(Give up, give in. Check the grin, you're in love.)<strong>  
><strong>You're in love, you're in love, you're in love<strong>  
><strong>(You're doin' flips, read our lips, you're in love.)<strong>  
><strong>You're way off base, I won't say it<strong>  
><strong>Get off my case, I won't say I'm in love<strong>  
><strong>(I won't say it. No, no)2x<strong>

'Dang it, Sakuno! Get off my case!' Ryoma screamed mentally as she sang the chorus. Out of curiosity, she looked at Tezuka, only to find him staring at her with the most intense expression she had ever seen him use.

**No chance, no way, I won't say it, no, no**  
><strong>(Give up, give in, check the grin you're in love)<strong>  
><strong>The scene won't play, I won't say you're in love<strong>  
><strong>(You're doin flips, read our lips you're in love)<strong>  
><strong>You're way off base, I won't say it<strong>  
><strong>(So don't be proud, it's okay you're in love)<strong>

Tezuka looked at Ryoma staring at him. That did it. He made up his mind.

'I'll tell her later,' he promised himself.

**No chance, no way, I won't say it, no, no**  
><strong>(Give up, give in, check the grin you're in love)<strong>  
><strong>The scene won't play, I won't say you're in love, (you're in love)<strong>

Ryoma sighed. She looked at Tezuka, who was looking at her with a gentle smile on his face, which made her heart beat a thousand miles per hour.

'He's so handsome. Will he like someone like me back?' she thought, but then, she wants to tell him. Just, not now.

**At least out loud, I won't say I'm in love.**

She sang the final words while looking at him straight in the eyes. Tezuka nodded and smiled at her, unnoticed by the others.

A moment of silence ensued before Tezuka started to clap, bringing the others out of their stupor and to cheer as well.

"Ochibi-chan! You have a great voice!" Kikumaru cheered as he jumped up and down, while Momo, who was beside him, whistled appreciatively.

"That was great, Echizen-chan!" Oishi said as Kawamura nodded enthusiastically, agreeing with what Oishi said.

"Who would have thought that Ryoma-chan would have such a lovely singing voice, ne, Inui?" Fuji said as he looked at Inui scribbling madly in his notebook.

"By my estimates, if she decides to go into the music world, her album would become a top-seller in a matter of days," Inui mumbled, eliciting a hiss of approval from Kaidoh and a dark chuckle from Fuji.

"So, let's continue with the party, shall we?" Inui said loudly as he clapped his notebook shut.

"YEAH!"

* * *

><p>After their party, the group decided to eat at Kawamura Sushi to celebrate. At first, Ryoma was reluctant to go but Kawamura promised her that he would make something else for her, thus hooking her in.<p>

As they were walking, Ryoma's hand was suddenly enveloped by another. When she turned around, she found her Buchou looking at her like he has something important to say. Ryoma nodded and moved to the back of the group, where there would be more privacy.

"What is it, Buchou?" Ryoma asked, nervous at the tangible hesitation that was enveloping Tezuka's form.

'What is he going to tell me?' she thought furiously, hoping against all hope that he would say the thing that she would love more than anything else in the world.

"Echizen, was what you sang true?" his deep voice resonated deep within her soul. She looked at him to find him looking at her with eyes full of hope.

"Aa, it's true," she said honestly. She couldn't bring herself to lie to those eyes. Realizing what she said, she looked down, afraid of what she might see in those eyes she loved so much.

But she was so surprised when a hand tilted her chin upwards so that she could see his face. Instead of the revolt and the pitying look she expected, she was greeted by a warm smile and eyes full of love.

"Me too."

* * *

><p>I UPDATED THIS SCENE! FINALLY! YEEHAW!<p>

Now, they're an official couple! Wonder what will happen when the others figure it out as well, ne? (smirks)

Read and Review, people, so that I will have motivation to post! :D


	13. Chapter 12

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN PRINCE OF TENNIS NOR ITS CHARACTERS! WHY? ASK FATE. :\

YOSH! I FINALLY got my files in order! Thank you guys for waiting patiently for me to get this story ok again! ARIGATOU GOZAIMASU!

_MintLeafeon_ - haha! Yup! I mean, everyone has a weakness somewhere. I just made it her brother. Of course! Thanks for sticking out with this! :D

_Kanberry_ - thanks for the hearts! :D

_Tokyo Tensai_ - haha! He isn't our beloved Fuji if he is't thinking about some hairbrained scheme that ultimately ends up good for his intended victime, ne? ;) Yeah, he knew. Well, he is like that. But he still has his friends' best interest at heart. :) Yup! I mean, she's only human, right? :D Haha. Well, I hope this chapter satisfies you. ;) Thanks for the vouch of confidence! :D

_Summer ice7_ - ohohoho. You noticed? ;D Don't worry. The chaos is in the next chapter. And it's related to their _cough_firstdate_cough_. :) Oh, don't worry. Your secret is safe with me. O:) (calls police)

_FangandIggyRule_ - haha. So sorry for the long wait for my updates. :) It's okay. At least you reviewed! :D Oh! The songs is "I Won't Say I'm In Love" by the Cheetah Girls. I got it when my sister was watching Hercules. :P :) Here's the next one! :D

_March Rosenqueen_ - haha. I always answer you guys. You're my inspirations! :D Oh, trust me. They'll meet. And its NOT gonna be pretty. Ryoma's pretty scary when pissed. :) Sorry for the wait! :D

_XxBlazestormxX_ - thanks a lot! :D Oh, a lot of chaos would be on the next chapter. Let's just look at what everyone's reactions would be, ne? :D

_SakuraCherryBlossomKokoro_ - thanks for reading my story and sticking with it! :D Sorry for the long wait! Here's the next chapter! :D

_Cathy Rin_ - hey! Oh, wow. Are you somewhere where it's still heavily flooded? You guys alright where you are? Jeez. And then, there's another coming. At this rate, we're all gonna sink! Uhm, I can't do that. My laptop's pretty jampacked with my programs. Meh, that's what you get for studying Computer Engineering. :\ Here's the next chapter, by the way! :D

ENJOY! :D

* * *

><p>Chapter 12: The Truth Shall Set You Free<p>

"Fuji-sempai."

"Yes, Momo?"

"What's Tachibana's little sister doing here in our ranking tournament?" Momoshiro asked, his gaze on the said girl as she and Sakuno were cheering on Ryoma against Oishi.

Well, they were trying to. You see, when the news that Ryoma defeated Akutsu reached Seigaku's population, the three idiot freshmen decided to build their very own Echizen fanclub consisting of all the first year boys. And so, on the ranking tournament, they decided to support their 'Hime-sama', which was received by furious glares from the said female rookie. Oddly enough for the club, Tezuka himself was in a bad mood when the fanclub appeared and started to get on Ryoma's nerves.

"I think Sakuno-chan called her to help properly support Ryoma-chan. The fanclub isn't doing much of that except for drooling at Ryoma-chan," Fuji said as his gaze wandered off to Tezuka, who was looking at the fanclub like he would very much be glad to throw them to the other side of the world.

'Ah. Getting a little jealous, are we, Tezuka?' Fuji thought, chuckling darkly. Momo looked at him with a scared expression.

"A-Ano, Fuji-sempai, please stop doing that. It's creepy," Momo said while inching away from the Tensai.

"Momoshiro, you're up," Tezuka said, his voice laced with an underlying tone of malicious intent.

"Hai, Buchou!" Momo yelped and ran towards his court in record time.

"Probability of Tezuka giving more laps than usual, 99%," Inui's voice flitted towards Fuji.

"Where did the 1% go?" Fuji questioned him, eyes traveling to find the source of Tezuka's moodiness.

"Ah. I'm sure you probably know the answer to that, Fuji," Inui said as he clapped his notebook shut.

"Indeed."

* * *

><p>"No way."<p>

"Momo-chan-sempai lost to Inui-sempai! He also lost to Buchou!"

"Then, that means Momo-chan-sempai isn't a regular anymore?"

"Baka! Lower your voice!"

Everyone ignored the three squabbling idiot freshmen to look at Momo. He was looking down at his feet as he shook Inui's hand. When he let go, he immediately turned tail and went out of the courts.

"Poor Momo, nya," Kikumaru said as he gazed down the path Momoshiro took.

"Aa. We should try to cheer him up later, Eiji," Oishi said as he looked at his partner with a fond expression.

"Yup hoi! You're going to treat us to burgers, Oishi!" Kikumaru said as he glomped his partner then bounced up and down.

"E-Eiji! Calm down!" Oishi said as he tried to pacify the hyper redhead.

"Minna, enough." Tezuka's voice rang throughout the courts, halting all chaos in its wake.

"The ranking tournaments are now over. First years, pick up the balls. Dismissed," he said as he turned to go but was stopped by Inui's voice.

"Tezuka, can we have a match?"

Hearing the sentence, the junior and senior club members all tittered and whispered at each other, knowing what will happen next. The freshmen all just looked at each other in confusion.

Ryoma looked on the commotion with increasing confusion. She heard hissing and found that Kaidoh was behind her, looking at the scene with narrowed eyes.

"Kaidoh-sempai," Ryoma said quietly as she approached the snake-shot specialist. The junior looked at her then looked at the scene, indicating that he heard her.

"Why is everyone reacting so badly? Inui-sempai just wants to play against Buchou," she said as she looked at the scene, noting the tension that suddenly appeared on the courts.

"That's not it, Ryoma-chan. Every year, Inui decides to play against Tezuka to see if his gathered data is enough to finally beat him," Fuji' voice flitted over to them. Ryoma turned to her left to find Fuji looking on the scene with opened eyes.

"Has Buchou ever been defeated before?" she asked as she looked at the object of her affections stand there, carefully assessing Inui.

Fuji's eyes trained on her for a brief moment before returning to Tezuka and Inui.

"Once. But the victor could honestly say that Tezuka was not in condition when they fought," Fuji said, his voice carefully guarded.

"Huh? Really? Why? Who beat Buchou?" Ryoma asked, her attention solely focused on Fuji now, who was looking at her with a curious expression.

"It's best if you let Tezuka explain it to you, Ryoma-chan," Fuji said, his eyes closing and his signature smile returning to his face.

Ryoma looked at Fuji a minute longer and then returned her sight to her Buchou. He agreed to Inui's request and had them on opposite sides of Court D.

"Shall we watch them, Ryoma-chan? Kaidoh-kun?" Fuji asked, his gaze flitting from Ryoma to Kaidoh, silently indicating that the snake-shot user be discreet at what he had learned from Fuji. Kaidoh looked at him and nodded, a hiss on his lips.

"Aa," Ryoma said, trying but failing not to get excited about seeing her crush play for the first time since she joined Seigaku (she was having her match when he played against Momo).

* * *

><p>"Sugoi," Ryoma said, her shock and admiration clear for all to hear. The match was underway and Tezuka had just used one of his trump cards, his Zero Shiki Drop Shot.<p>

"I never knew that was even possible," Ryoma said as she gazed at Tezuka with love in her eyes.

"Tezuka strikes again," Fuji said, chuckling every now and then.

"Tezuka really is on another level, isn't he?" Kawamura's voice flitted towards them.

"True, Taka-san. But, I think we have found his match, ne?" Fuji said to Kawamura quietly, looking at Ryoma silently.

"Let's see, Fuji," Kawamura chuckled silently.

Soon, Inui had upped the ante, forcing Tezuka to use his second trump card, the Tezuka Zone.

"No way. He knows that technique?" Ryoma said, stunned at what she's seeing.

"What's the matter, Echizen-chan?" Kawamura asked, him having heard the girl's exclamation.

"Nothing, sempai," Ryoma said, her eyes clear and bright with astonishment and determination.

* * *

><p>"Game and match! Tezuka Kunimitsu, 6 games to 3!"<p>

"Nice game, Tezuka. It seems the data I've collected was insufficient. I need to collect more on you," Inui said as he went up to the net to shake Tezuka's hand.

"Aa," Tezuka said as he moved to shake the data master's hand.

"Well, it seems Inui has still a long way to go, ne?" Fuji said, his smile planted on his face.

"He has gotten better, Fuji. He won one more game than last year," Kawamura said amiably.

"True," Fuji said as Tezuka dismissed them, he himself going straight to the clubhouse.

"Let's go change, Fuji," Kawamura said as he went towards the clubhouse.

"Aa."

* * *

><p>Tezuka sighed as he walked towards the park he had been frequenting these past few days. It was where he met Ryoma to for them to walk home together. Yeah, it was silly and all, but they both agreed to keep their relationship a secret for now, especially knowing how the others will react.<p>

He zoned out a bit and his mind provided him with his game with Inui a while ago, or rather, the expressions he had garnered from a certain emerald haired prodigy in the sidelines. He didn't miss the love and determination in her eyes. He smiled.

"Ne, Buchou, you're slow."

'Ah, there she is,' he thought warmly as he spotted her leaning against a streetlamp, her face set on a teasing smile.

"I had to take some papers to Ryuzaki-sensei," he said, a gentle smile forming on his face.

"Heh, so that's what it was. Also, did you know that Kikumaru-sempai and Oishi-sempai were man-hunting Momo-sempai?" she said, amusement covering her whole form.

"Hm. They'll help him get over it," he said as he motioned that they get going.

"Aa. If they don't, well, there's always Ann," Ryoma said, moving in stride with him.

"Ryoma," Tezuka said, his voice laced with amusement.

"What? It's obvious he likes her! And Ann doesn't seem to be against the idea, so why not? Maybe she can knock some sense into him," Ryoma said, radiating smugness.

"So you want to play matchmaker?" Tezuka said, chuckling a little, causing Ryoma to look at him with shock.

"You laughed!" she said, astonished at the beautiful sound.

"You don't like it?" he smiled, teasing her.

"No! I love it!" she said enthusiastically, then immediately blushed when she realized what she had said.

Tezuka smiled at her and took her hand.

"Then would you like to hear it more?" he asked as he interlaced their fingers. Ryoma sighed and relaxed, leaning onto his finely muscled arm.

"I would love that too, Kunimitsu," she said, a happy, carefree smile on her lips.

"Call me Mitsu, Ryoma," Tezuka said gently, making Ryoma grin in obvious delight.

* * *

><p>For the next few days, no one in the tennis club had seen hide nor hair of Momoshiro, and the regulars were getting worried. Or, to put it more specifically, Eiji was loudly commenting and wailing on Momo's reluctance to show up and Oishi was fretting that something happened to the Dunk Smash player. Kawamura was trying to pacify the distraught Golden Pair, Inui was recording data as usual and Fuji was commenting on Momo's loss more frequently when Ann was present in their practices, drawing confused looks from Ann and amused ones from Sakuno.<p>

As for Ryoma and Tezuka, well, let's just say Tezuka has been steadily becoming grouchier every day Momo fails to show up for practice. And Ryoma was getting more and more frustrated because it was getting harder and harder to see him smile, even at her, for Kami's sake! So, she resolved to take matters into her own capable hands.

"Ne, Buchou, I'm going for a walk, ok? And I'm going to take Ann with me!" Ryoma said as she grabbed her and Ann's bags and dragged the pretty brunette off somewhere.

"Why did you let them go, Tezuka?" Oishi asked, concerned for the rookie.

"They'll find Momo," Tezuka said, his eyes never leaving the practice.

"My, Tezuka, you sure know how to read our female prodigy, ne?" Fuji butted in, having overheard the confrontation.

"Fuji, thirty laps."

"Saa."

* * *

><p>"Ok, Ann, you do know where he's staying at, right?" Ryoma said as they waited for a bus at the nearest bus station.<p>

"Yeah. He's always by the street courts near Gyokurin. You really want me to convince him? Why me?" Ann said, looking at Ryoma with an intense stare.

"Uh-huh. Do you expect me to believe that you don't find him remotely interesting?" Ryoma asked her friend, her hands resting on her hips.

"I, uh, uhm," Ann sputtered, slowly turning a beet red color.

"Heh, works every time. Come on, love bird, let's find your other half," Ryoma said, adopting a very Fuji-like smirk.

"Are you sure you're Ryoma and not Fuji-san in disguise?" Ann said, exasperated, as the bus arrived and Ryoma was already climbing aboard.

"Nope. I'm worse," she said as she winked at Ann before disappearing into the bus.

Sighing, Ann followed her.

* * *

><p>"Oi, is there anyone else?" Momo asked as he surveyed the now empty surroundings of the court he was in. He had just finished beating a random guy but was still full of pent up anger and disappointment. So imagine his surprise when someone actually answered him.<p>

"Oi! Momoshiro! That's you, isn't it?"

Momo turned to look at the direction of the voice and found two charcoal grey eyes staring at him. When Momo focused, he saw Tachibana's little sister staring at him like he was an alien.

"Oh! Tachibana's little sister. How did you recognize me?" Momo said, his voice lacking the usual cheer.

Ann frowned at his reception.

"You're wearing your jersey, Baka," she said, pointing to the jacket casually draped around him.

"Oh," he said, looking at his jacket as if noticing it for the first time.

"Aren't you supposed to be at Seigaku, practicing? For the Kantou Regional Tournament?" she asked as she plopped her tennis bag on one of the bleachers and took out her tennis racket.

"Nope. I'm just here passing time," Momo said as he grinned at her, but it was lacking real genuine mirth in it.

"Hmm. Seems to me you're losing focus, Momoshiro. Why don't we play to set that right?" she said as she pointed her racquet towards him, taking on a challenging stance.

Momoshiro just shrugged his shoulders and got ready to play.

Unbeknownst to the Dunk Smash player, a pair of golden eyes witnessed everything that went down.

* * *

><p>"Now that's the Momoshiro I know," Ann said as she wiped the sweat off her brow after her defeat at Momoshiro's hands. She had managed to coax out from him the fact that he being out of the regulars is not a bad thing. It just means that he just has to train harder.<p>

"Yeah. Thanks for the game, Tachibana's little sister," he grinned cheekily, causing Ann to frown in displeasure.

"Oi, I have a name, you know," she said huffily, crossing her hands in front of her chest, her racquet ending up under her armpits.

"Yep. Tachibana's little sister," Momo said happily, further antagonizing the female.

"Honestly, I don't know why I even helped you in the first place," Ann said as she threw up her hands in the air, racquet and all.

"Oro. What do we have here," an arrogant voice flitted towards them. Both turned to the sound of the voice and found 4 students wearing Hyoutei jerseys.

"Well, well, it seems Seigaku-san got a little lost, ne? Should we be nice and show him the right way?" the one who introduced them there sneered.

"Oh? I never pegged you for being a nice person, Sawada-kun," the one at the back baited.

"What do you want to do, Taki-san?" the guy who was at the immediate right of the person in front asked.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe I'll just ditch Seigaku-san and go out with this pretty Onee-chan," the one in front, a dark grey haired guy that had his hair in a hairstyle similar to Mukahi, obviously the leader, stepped out and made to grab Ann's arm, leering at her. Suddenly, a hand shot out of Taki's right and collided with his, preventing him from touching Ann.

"She's with me, guys," Momo said, instantly pulling Ann behind him to shield her.

"Oh? Is Seigaku-san going to play Knight in shining armor?" Sawada sneered, looking at Momo like dirt.

"Oi, what's going on here, Taki."

The four Hyoutei players froze in their tracks as a female voice flitted towards them. They _knew_ who that voice belonged to. They were _so in trouble_.

"Ah! Echizen-kun! Ano, we can explain-!" Taki turned, trying to console the feisty female but when he saw the anger in her eyes, he _knew_ that the four of them would not be walking normally for a week starting tomorrow.

"Save it. I came here to get out MIA player back. If you mind," she said as she went forward and smacked Momoshiro in the head, causing the male to yelp and rub his injured body part.

"Let's go. Ann, help me here," Ryoma said as she grabbed Momoshiro and dragged him out of there. Ann followed suit, Momo's bag slung on her shoulders. But before they could be truly out of hearing range, Ryoma turned around and glared at them like they were somehow related to Akutsu Gin.

"Be prepared. I'm telling Kei."

* * *

><p>"Sugoi! Ochibi-chan brought back Momo, nya!" Kikumaru bounced up and down, excited that the team was finally whole again.<p>

"Aa. She sure is something," Oishi said, shaking his head while chuckling.

"So, how many do you think he'll get?" Fuji said, leaning in conspiratorially, lowering his voice so that only the regulars in the immediate vicinity would be able to hear him.

Practices were nearly over that afternoon as Ryoma turned up with a sheepish Momoshiro and a happy Ann. The violet eyed sophomore apologized to the entire club about worrying them and went to Tezuka, hoping that their Buchou be soft on him.

And so, the regulars are all discussing what punishment Momoshiro will get.

"I think Tezuka would not go overboard with the punishment. He is Buchou for a reason," Kawamura said sensibly, feeling the need to defend their Buchou.

"Negative, Taka-san. By my calculations, it will be higher than fifty laps but lower than a hundred and ten laps," Inui said as he scribbled in his trusty notebook.

"Seventy laps?" Fuji smiled, chuckling ling darkly.

"Ninety!" Kikumaru bounced excitedly.

"Fssh. Eighty," Kaidoh said quietly.

"Minna, we really shouldn't be doing this," Oishi said nervously, eyeing his best friend in case he heard what they were discussing.

"One hundred laps."

"NANI?"

* * *

><p>"Are you sure that one hundred is enough?" Ryoma asked Tezuka as they were walking home that afternoon, having witnessed Momoshiro gracelessly fall unconscious after his one hundredth lap around the tennis courts. Oishi volunteered to be the one who would get Momoshiro to the infirmary and surprisingly, everyone but Kaidoh and they themselves wanted to stay to see if Momoshiro would live or not.<p>

And so, Tezuka left them to their own devices, as he and Ryoma had their daily walk home.

"Aa. He's suffered enough," Tezuka shook his head, smiling at the indignant huff his girlfriend emitted. Yes, _his girlfriend_.

"He deserves _more_. I had to convince Ann to do her part, you know. And _then_ I had to bail him out of Taki's grasp. Che," she said, her irritation at Momoshiro surfacing.

"Just be glad that he's back," Tezuka said, gently trying to pacify the fuming girl.

"Yeah. You have a point, Mitsu," Ryoma said, looking at him with love-filled eyes.

Tezuka just smiled at the girl and silently intertwined their fingers.

A comfortable silence enveloped the two, with them nearing Ryoma's house. Suddenly, Ryoma tugged on Tezuka's hand, indicating that they should go another way. Tezuka looked at her questioningly.

"Nothing. I just wanted to spend more time with you," she said, her head bowed low, blushing strongly.

Tezuka nodded and smiled, turning around so that they could spend time in that nearby park they had passed awhile ago.

* * *

><p>Momoshiro groaned as he came around.<p>

"Look! Momoshiro's coming to!" Kawamura said as he noticed Momo's groan.

"Ugh. Wha' happen'?" Momoshiro groaned, his muscles feeling like liquid fire.

"You conked out by your one hundredth lap, Momo. Are you alright now? Do you need help in getting home?" Oishi fretted as he checked up on him. The whole team, excluding Kaidoh, Tezuka and Ryoma was there, even Sakuno and Ann, with the former silently chuckling and the latter quietly pensive.

"Oh. Uh, yeah. I appreciate the concern, Oishi-sempai. And yeah, I need help. My muscles feel like they're under lava," Momoshiro groaned.

"Yup hoi! Let's all escort Momo-chan, ne?"

"Yeah!"

"Oi! I'm not a girl, Eiji-sempai!"

* * *

><p>"Fujiko, nya!"<p>

Fuji looked at his best friend, who had exclaimed in surprise. They were currently escorting Momoshiro towards his house, and the group was as rambunctious as ever. Well, until Kikumaru shouted in surprise and pointed ahead of them.

"What is it, Eiji?" Fuji asked, a frown replacing the smile he had on minutes ago.

"Te-te-te-te." Apparently, whatever he saw had fried his brain enough for him to stutter like that.

'Te? He can't mean Tezuka, can't he?' Fuji thought to himself. He looked at Inui, only to have him nod in confirmation.

"And why are you stuttering his name, Eiji?" Fuji asked him, a hand on his shoulder to steady him. Oishi was already looking at Eiji like he would very much like to put him in a hospital bed this very minute.

"O-o-o-o-!" he said, his blue eyes wide with surprise.

'O? Ochibi? Ryoma!' Fuji immediately looked at Inui, who was looking like he also pieced together what Eiji saw. What was starting as a frown turned into a full blown evil smirk as he opened his notebook and began jotting notes. Fuji himself was wearing a smile so like Inui's that Oishi instantly snatched Kikumaru from his grip and was slowly backing away along with Kawamura, who was supporting Momoshiro, Sakuno and Ann.

"Ano, Fuji, are you ok?" he asked tentatively, afraid of the twin smirks the two sadists had.

"What do you say we take a walk for a while, minna. It might help Momo out," Fuji said as he trained his now opened eyes at them, making them shiver in fear.

"Iie, Fuji. Momo can't take it," Oishi shook his head, wondering what had gotten to his two accomplices.

"Ok. I'll just escort Momo to his house. Who wants to come with me?" Kawamura said as he supported a still shaking Momoshiro.

"I'll go with you, Kawamura-san. You coming, Sakuno?" Ann said as she quietly got Momo's bag from Oishi.

"Of course, Ann-chan!" Sakuno said as she bounced after the three. Fuji looked at their retreating figures and smiled a sinister smile.

"Well, shall we go and investigate, Oishi?" he asked the motherhen, scaring him thoroughly.

"Whatever you say, Fuji," Oishi said as he sweatdropped.

* * *

><p>"It's really nice out today," Ryoma commented as they lay on the grass. They were currently under a huge oak tree in the park.<p>

"Aa," Tezuka consented as he leaned against the trunk of the tree, his hand still intertwined with Ryoma's.

Ryoma smiled as she realized this fact.

"You know, I never took into account that you might actually like me back, Mitsu," she said as she looked at Tezuka with a gentle smile on her pink lips.

"And I the same, Ryoma," Tezuka said as he looked at his girlfriend with a loving countenance.

"I wish it could always be like this, ne?" she asked, scooting closer to him, close enough for him to wrap an arm around her waist.

"You want to be like this in front of the others?" Tezuka questioned lightly, chuckling a little.

"Aa," she said, surprising Tezuka, but then, he smiled at her.

"What did I do to deserve someone like you, Ryoma," he said, inching his face closer to hers.

"You were yourself," she answered impishly and yet at the same time inching closer to his face.

"So you say," he said before their lips touched and the world melted before them.

The two were blissfully unaware of their surroundings and failed to notice a gobsmacked Golden Pair, a gleefully writing Data Master, and a Sadistic Tensai taking their picture with his precious camera.

Well, they did notice them. Only when Kikumaru had enough sense to say what her thought of at that moment.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

* * *

><p>Hihihihi. Finished! Sorry about the kiss. Not very detailed. I'll go in depth at the next chapter, though. :D<p>

Read and Review, minna! Pretty please! :D


	14. Chapter 13

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Prince of Tennis. I guess destiny had other plans for me. :((

MINNAAAAAAAAAAA! I. AM. B.A.C.K.! WOOOOOO! Haha. I TOTALLY apologze for the long hiatus but I've only just managed to bring my life to a heel. I was dumped to continue my studies in another country and it did NOT sit with me totally well. Wow. Chapter 12 really packed some reviews! Hmm. If I answer them all here t would make my Author's Note totally looong and rambling and personally, I hate it when it does that. So, I'll just send you guys a private message responding to your reviews! Hope you guys review, and favorite more! Thank you for subscribing in HIAB! :D

Now, here is CHAPTER 13! :D

* * *

><p>Chapter 13: Chaos at the Sakura Festival<p>

"Nooooooooooooo!"

"Oi, you three, stop that!" Momo clutched his ears shut as he approached the three wailing freshmen.

The three idiots paid him no mind as they continued screeching their hearts out, disrupting tennis practice and making Tezuka look at them with murder in his eyes.

"Is something the matter, you three?" Oishi said worriedly as he went towards them, him being in a game when they started so he really couldn't see what was wrong with them.

"Oishi-sempai, Momo-chan-sempai," whimpered Horio. The three stopped their wails, earning a relieved sigh from everyone.

"There. Now, can you tell us why you're screaming like that? A few more minutes and Tezuka would have had your heads," Oishi said as looked at Horio then Katsuo and Kachiro.

"Hime-sama turned us down for the Sakura Festival!" the three wailed, starting anew, eliciting a groan from the whole tennis club.

Oishi's eyes widened and he immediately looked at Tezuka's general direction. Said captain had a very pronounced tick on his forehead.

"Ano, kimi-tachi, perhaps you shouldn't speak of that here. You're disrupting practice," Oishi said, trying to let them see that Tezuka wasn't very happy with them.

'Especially when they said Echizen-chan turned them down,' he thought, sweatdropping.

Yes, no one knew yet that Tezuka and Echizen were in a relationship. Well, except for those who saw them that day.

_Flashback_

_The screech Kikumaru emitted was enough to break the couple apart and look at them. Both of their eyes widened._

"_What are you doing here, sempai-tachi?" Ryoma asked nervously, looking down at the grass._

"_Oh, we were trying to see if what Kikumaru had seen was true. Apparently, yes," Inui said as he adjusted his glasses, making the light bounce back, giving him an eerie look, especially with that maniacal grin on his lips._

"_My, how right he was," Fuji chuckled lowly, stroking his camera lovingly._

"_Tezuka~," Oishi said, his eyes wide with surprise._

_Tezuka coughed slightly, willing away his blush._

_Then, what Oishi did was one reaction that Tezuka never expected of the motherhen. He jumped with joy._

"_Yes! Yes! Yes!"_

"_Oishi," Tezuka said, a question hanging in the air; 'Are you alright?'_

"_I'm more than alright, Tezuka! Finally! You're showing your emotions! I was right!" Oishi said as he continued to jump up and down like a little kid in a candy store._

"_Enough, Oishi. You're scaring them," Fuji said as he got a grip on Oishi's shoulder._

_Indeed, Tezuka was looking at Oishi like he was possessed and Ryoma had her jaw dragging on the ground._

"_But I'm so happy! I'm so happy, Fuji!" Oishi said as he looked at the Tensai with shining eyes._

"_Err, why are you so happy, Oishi-sempai?" Ryoma asked after she got her jaw working again._

_The three unstupefied regulars looked at them seriously._

"_Because we can watch the rest of your story."_

"_Eh?" she said, not making heads nor tails of their explanation. Though, Tezuka looked at them with dawning realization._

"_You were watching us?" he said, his tone indicating he was not asking a question._

"_Of course. Who do you think planned the karaoke outing?" Inui said as he looked at them with a dark smile._

"_Ah. I still have to thank Kei-chan for that little tidbit," Fuji chuckled a little as Ryoma's glare was immediately shot to him._

"_I knew it!" Ryoma growled lowly, giving Fuji her strongest glare. Unfortunately, Fuji didn't even so much as flinch at the sight._

"_Hmm?" he asked, smiling sweetly at the angry girl._

"_I knew it was you Keigo was calling the other night! That evil pompous bastard lied to me! Why I ought to-!" Her tirade was cut short when a calming hand settled on her shoulder. She looked at Tezuka, who looked at her sternly._

"_Hai, hai," she said sullenly, obeying the silent order._

"_Ochibi with Tezuka?" a quiet voice timidly floated to them as they looked at their normally bouncy redhead acrobat, who was looking at the couple like they were aliens._

"_Ano, Eiji?" Oishi immediately sobered up at seeing his partner's reaction._

"_Are you against this, Kikumaru?" Inui asked bluntly, eyeing the redhead with a calculating gaze._

_Kikumaru snapped out of his daze when Inui asked his question._

"_Of course not! I'm just surprised. I just didn't see it coming," Kikumaru said sheepishly, looking at the couple with surprise written all over his face._

"_Then it's ok with you, Eiji?" Fuji asked, his face set into a mild frown._

"_It might take some time. I mean, it's Ochibi-chan! She's like my little sister!" Kikumaru declared as he moved to glomp the rookie but Fuji's sudden hand on his shoulder stayed him put._

"_Then, all of you know the importance of keeping this a secret as of now?" Tezuka asked as he peered at his friends._

"_My, Tezuka, do you have to ask?" Fuji said, his smile widening a fraction._

"_Somehow, I'm not comforted, Buchou," Ryoma said, frowning at the growing smirks of Fuji and Inui._

"_Aa," Tezuka agreed._

_End flashback_

"Eh, why not, Oishi-sempai? We weren't even the first ones to ask Hime-sama," Kachiro said as he ceased his own wailing to inform their two sempais, wherein one was chuckling nervously.

"Whatever the fact may be, you three are still disrupting practice. Hora, my new juice, Kiiro," Inui said as he instantly appeared at Oishi's side, brandishing a jug full of bright yellow liquid.

As the screams of the three died, Oishi looked at Inui jotting down the trio's reactions to his juice.

"Did you really have to do that?" he asked the Data Master carefully, not bothering to hide his fear in his smile.

"Of course, Oishi. Unless you could think of any other way to pacify Tezuka?" he asked the motherhen, his eyebrow lifting ever so slightly.

Oishi stopped regarding Inui like he was the Grim Reaper himself and looked towards where his best friend usually oversaw practice. His posture was a little more relaxed than when the trio proclaimed that they had asked Ryoma out. He had to admit, Inui had a point. Once angered, Tezuka would be level-headed, yes, but _much_ more brutal with his punishments. They really didn't need the club to run goodness-knows how much laps. They had Inui for punishments, thank you very much!

"Very well," sighed Oishi, seeing no other option.

'At least Fuji is staying out of trouble,' he thought, mainly to pacify himself.

As if on cue, Fuji walked up to them and smiled creepily.

"Inui, that drink looks under seasoned. Here," he said as he dumped a _whole tube _of wasabi in the drink, causing the drink to sputter and fizz, until it turned into an unhealthy and unappetizing shade of green and brown.

"I give up," Oishi said, exasperated at the two evil beings.

Meanwhile, Momo had run away nearly 15 minutes ago.

* * *

><p>"Ano, Echizen-kun, can I talk to you for a moment?"<p>

Ryoma growled lowly in her throat. This was what? The 15th time she was stopped in the hallway? She stopped stomping towards the tennis clubhouse in favor of giving the one who stopped her her best death glare. She _did not_ need another _invitation_, damn it!

"What?" she asked, her tone suggesting that if the boy had _any_ self-preservation left, he would let the pissed female go without saying anything.

_BUT NOOO. _The stupid boy didn't notice _anything wrong_.

"Ano, Echizen-kun, I'm Isamu from 1-4. I was wondering if you would go to the festival with me?" the boy hedged, looking really insecure.

Ryoma took a long deep breath through her nose and exhaled slowly, reigning her temper in.

'Forgive him, he is a mindless idiot. Forgive him, he is a mindless idiot,' she chanted mentally, complaining to the gods on why they made the boys her age have the capacity of carrying less than an iota of brain cells.

"I'm not going with anyone within my year," she told him bluntly, ignoring the crestfallen look he was giving her. She turned sharply and quickly made her way towards the clubhouse. Well, as quickly as one could muster when you're being stopped by boys every freaking corner.

'That's it. The kid gloves come off here. I need to talk to Fuji-sempai,' he thought darkly, planning for revenge, as she turned down her 20th offer for the day. She made her way to the tennis courts, leaving a trail of heartbroken boys behind her.

Thus, when she got to the clubhouse, all the members wisely kept their distance because she was spouting such a dark aura Tezuka would have been proud of. When she emerged on the courts, she scanned the vicinity and immediately made a beeline for Fuji, Inui and Oishi.

Seeing Ryoma approach, Fuji donned on his best smile and faced the irate female.

"What can I do for you, Ryoma-chan?" he asked sweetly, already having a vague indication of what she wants.

"Fuji-sempai, I want you and Inui-sempai to make a statement with the next person to ask me to the festival," she said bluntly, completely ignoring the startled look Oishi gave to her and the maniacal grin that was spreading on Inui's face.

"You're giving us permission to do _anything_?" Inui cut in, his glasses glinting eerily.

"_Anything_ to keep them hounding me and giving my boyfriend a stroke," she said as she turned and walked towards Momoshiro, probably to coerce him into a game with her.

"Ah, how they grow, ne Inui?" Fuji's smile was simply diabolical.

"Of course. I'm calculating a 100% chance the next boy who would ask Echizen would not attend school for a month," Inui said, cackling quietly.

"O-Oi! You guys can get expelled for that!" Oishi said, his pallor a pasty white at hearing Inui's remark.

"Hmm. Do you think so, Oishi?" Fuji asked the motherhen, his eyes opening a sliver.

"Ok. I take it back. You guys _can_ do that. Just, no killing, please?" Oishi said, his hand already resting on his chest, where his heart should be.

"Of course not, Oishi. We could get jailed for that," Fuji said, his smile widening creepily.

"No. We'll just stop until they're within 5 feet of Death's Door," Inui said, already scribbling on his notebook.

'Kami help the male population,' Oishi mentally said, watching helplessly as Inui put something that looked suspiciously like a cock's comb into the pitcher, turning it into a lavender color with _something_ floating in it.

"I'll call an ambulance now," he said weakly, as he quickly put distance between himself and the two sadists.

* * *

><p>"Echizen-chan," a cocky, pompous voice said somewhere behind Ryoma. She was just getting her towel from her bag to wipe the sweat that accumulated on her brow when she played Momo when the voice interrupted her afternoon bliss. She turned around and glared at the offending person.<p>

The guy was too tall to be a freshman. Plus, he was wearing a tennis club member jersey. He had brown hair, a nicely sculpted face. He looked like a male model for tennis jerseys. Still, he looked confident. Too confident.

"I'm Hiroko, 2-2. Wanna go see the fireworks with me, babe? Every soph wants to come with me," he said, punctuating the end of his sentence with a saucy wink.

"Yadda. Your head's too big," Ryoma said bluntly, immediately spotting her two accomplices and nodding to them. Fuji smiled evilly as he pointed at Hiroko, gesturing something to Inui.

"What? Didn't you just hear what I said? Every _sophomore_ girl wants to come with me to the festival! You're supposed to be groveling in the dirt, thanking me for choosing you!" Hiroko said, appalled that Ryoma rejected him like she rejected the freshmen.

"Well, Ichikawa Hiroko, you can't just choose Echizen here. You have to pass the test her cousin set up for whoever wants to go out with her. Will you take the challenge?" Inui appeared at his back as if he teleported there, making Hiroko jump 5 feet off the ground. He turned around warily, as if expecting Inui to suddenly strangle him.

"How many tests are there?" he asked, warily regarding the Data Master.

"Only three. Would you like to try the first one?" Inui asked, his glasses glinting dangerously.

"Of course. I'm sure I'll pass it with flying colors. After all, many call me the 'Tezuka' of the sophomores," he said, applying his blinding smile on the way. Obviously, his confidence levels were superhuman, too.

"Then you will have no problem with test number one. Hora. My specially made juice at Atobe's request. I have no procured name for it. Would it be alright if I named it 'Echizen's Glare'?" he aimed the question at Ryoma, who was at that point sitting down at the bench and looking at Hiroko with murder in her golden eyes.

"Go ahead, Inui-sempai. Just make good use of it," she said coolly, her glare sharpening when Hiroko unmistakably winked at her.

"Of course, Echizen. Ichikawa, dozo," Inui said, his glasses glinting in the sunlight.

Whether he truly believed that he was Tezuka's equal or not, Hiroko accepted the glass from Inui and drank it straight, which caused him to fall gracelessly on the ground at Ryoma's feet, his mouth foaming.

"Impressive, Inui-sempai, that's a new record," Ryoma said, nudging the sophomore's body with her right foot.

"Fuji helped with that particular concoction. Ah. The screaming of your proclaimed fan club members are starting. You'll have no one to bother you now, Echizen. If someone does, we have a final plan," Inui said, laughing quite scarily.

"Arigatou, Inui-sempai," Ryoma nodded her thanks as she rose from the bench and made her way towards the fight that Momoshiro and Kaido have going on.

"No, I'm the one who must thank you, Echizen. Now I can have as many guinea pigs as I want. Ufufufu," Inui muttered maniacally as he faced the wide eye crowd outside the courts.

* * *

><p>"Anou, Inui-sempai?"<p>

"Hmm?" Inui his back on the 30th guy who had the guts to take on his first challenge and to look at the source of the questioning voice. Seeing Kachiro and the obvious sweatdrop, Inui decided to humor him.

"Isn't the test Atobe-san set up impossible to pass? I mean, it's only the first step, and almost all of the sophomores in our club died," he mumbled quietly, afraid that Inui might force him to drink the foul liquid if he made the Data Master angry.

"Oh, it's possible to pass the tests. Shall I show you someone who could?" Inui said loudly, gaining the attention of those that were watching with morbid horror.

"No way, Inui-sempai. No one's that strong," one voice shouted clearly from the crowd, resulting in murmurs of agreement.

"Oh? We'll see," he said quietly, chuckling evilly as he made his way to the block of a captain standing at the opposite side of the court, watching the first years practice their swings.

"Tezuka," he called the captain, making him turn to look at him, a question in his eyes.

"You might want to drink this. Apparently, Atobe wanted to make sure no one would harass Echizen," he said in a whisper, his evil smile widening as Tezuka's eyes glinted with something. Sadism, perhaps? He took the pitcher from Inui, downed it in one long draught, then resumed overseeing practice like nothing happened.

Inui turned around to find that the ones that followed him were looking at Tezuka with a mixture of awe and jealousy.

"That proves someone can pass the first test to go to the second and final tests," Inui said loudly, addressing the whole crowd.

"What _are_ the other tests, Inui-sempai?" Horio shouted, eliciting a lot of "Yeah!" in the crowd.

"This is the second one. Fuji," Inui called, and immediately, Fuji materialized beside him.

"Has someone progressed to Step 2?" he asked sweetly, his eyes opened to their sharpest.

"Ah, Fuji. No, I was merely saying that Atobe's Test is not impossible. Shall we tell them what Atobe expects of the person who would be lucky enough to bring Echizen to the Sakura Festival?" Inui said darkly, eliciting shivers from the spectators.

"Of course, Inui. This is Step 2," Fuji said as he turned to Tezuka and said in a voice that could be heard by everybody paying them attention, "My, Tezuka, I'm surprised you're not part of Ryoma-chan's little fanclub. After all, you were the first one she trusted. Maybe you've reciprocated that? Hmm? Am I right?"

Every single one of the spectators had their jaws dropping on the ground. Fuji did _not _just antagonize Tezuka. And of _ECHIZEN_ of all things!

Tezuka took one look at Fuji before looking back to practice, his expression never wavering.

"Oh? Playing with the silent treatment, Tezuka? You do know that silence means yes, now, don't you?"

The trend of Fuji antagonizing Tezuka did not stop until Inui held up a hand to stop Fuji from making any more smart alecks. By this time, almost everyone of the club members were edging away from the said duo, afraid of the backlash they might receive when Tezuka decides to blow up. Inui and Fuji had no such compulsions.

"Oro? The twenty minutes are up?" Fuji said as he walked amicably towards Inui, ignoring the horrified looks that Echizen's fanclub was giving him and Inui. Tezuka just ignored them and looked intently at the frantic first years who were up to their 600th swing and looking as if they could still make it to 1000 in their fear of Tezuka's wrath. Heck, they were even counting in their minds, afraid that their counting would make something explode.

"Of course, and Tezuka passed it with flying colors," Inui said as he pushed his glasses up to his nose and opened his notebook to adjust some of his data on Tezuka, leaving Fuji to address the crowd.

"That was Step 2, restraint in the most unfavorable conditions one can land on. I assume that Inui told you that Step 1 was a test of endurance," Fuji said as he surveyed the dismayed crowd with a serene smile. He chuckled mentally when he saw more than one dark look was being thrown at Tezuka.

'Oh, the last one will knock them off for good,' he thought, cackling madly in his head.

"And I'm sure you're wondering what the last Step is, ne? This last one was added by Atobe so he could ensure his baby cousin had a good time. Inui, Step 3," Fuji said as he jostled Inui out of his calculative trance.

"Ah. Of course, Fuji. Echizen!" Inui called the golden-eyed prodigy from the other side of the court. Well, it was easy considering that the courts were as silent as a cemetery with all of the members at shock on what was going on. Ryoma looked up from her place at a bench and raised one eyebrow delicately, her question hanging in the air.

"Can you come here for a second?" Inui said, mentally grinning as Ryoma shook her head slightly, got up and began walking towards them.

"What do you want, Inui-sempai?" she said bluntly, crossing her arms and looking at the assembled crowd outside the courts with her darkest glare yet.

"Echizen, we need you for a little experiment. Would you stand beside Tezuka for approximately 15 minutes?" Inui said, his glasses glinting harshly.

"Whatever it takes to get rid of them," she muttered so that only Fuji and Inui could hear as she went and stood next to Tezuka, who looked at her, nodded and resumed looking at practice.

Fifteen antagonizing minutes of deathly silence later, Ryoma unstuck herself from the metal fence she was leaning on and looked at Tezuka.

"Arigatou for not annoying me, Buchou," she said, her pose indifferent, but her eyes spoke of something warm.

Tezuka looked at her and nodded, conveying that she was welcome. Although, only Fuji, Inui, and Ryoma saw the slight upward curve of his lips.

"Is that enough, Inui-sempai? Can I go back to my practice?" Ryoma said flatly although her eyes shone with mirth. She figured out what Inui and Fuji were trying to do and was trying very hard not to lose it and ruin the Sadistic Duo's plans.

"Of course, Ryoma-chan. Sorry for disturbing you," Fuji said amicably as he smiled at her, a genuine smile.

Ryoma just nodded and went back to where she came from as Fuji and Inui faced the confused crowd.

"And Step 3 was to test whether Echizen was comfortable enough with her partner that in fifteen minutes, she wouldn't even glare at her partner's direction," Inui said as he grinned, which most of the crowd found to be very reminiscent of that of a shark's.

"So, that means, Tezuka passed the Test. And for anyone who wants to pass the Test, ask yourselves this. Are you good enough to be just like Tezuka?" Fuji said, his eyes opening as his grin reached new heights.

* * *

><p>"Coming!" Nanako called as she hurried to answer the door. She was hurriedly tying her hair up because she had to help Ryoma get in her yukata.<p>

'Honestly, it's really cute that Ryoma-kun's going to a festival this year. I really hope she really did find a date she likes,' she thought as she finished tying up her hair and hurried to the front door. When she opened it, her eyes met the most serious hazel eyes she'd ever seen. She took in his windswept brown hair, thin spectacles and polite aura as she went to the gate and unlatched it.

"Ano, may I ask who are you?" Nanako asked, not quite certain that this was Ryoma's date.

"My name's Tezuka Kunimitsu and I'm Echizen's date for the Sakura Festival. It's a pleasure to meet you," Tezuka said as he bowed slightly.

Nanako blinked at the formality, but then smiled at him as she welcomed him inside.

"Please wait here for Ryoma-kun. She'll be here in a short while," she smiled at him and went to her room. When she got there, she absently looked at her phone to see if her two friends were still at their respective houses. As she texted them that she was going ahead, her thoughts went back to the young man that was sitting in their living room.

"Well, Ryoma-kun, I think I'm hearing wedding bells already," she giggled quietly to herself as she grabbed her purse and went out of her room.

* * *

><p>Tezuka was a right mess. Well, okay, he still had the perfect calm aura about him, and his face was absolutely rigid, but inside he was a jumbled mess of nerves. He was really nervous in going out with Ryoma, never mind that she's his girlfriend. Plus the look that the girl who let him was wearing was taxing on his not-panicking-sense.<p>

"Buchou?"

He stood up as his brain short-circuited at seeing the pixie coming down the stairs. She looked beautiful with her white and gold koi-patterned yukata. She even had a silver star hair clip on her shoulder length hair. He was really gobsmacked in seeing this side of his girlfriend.

"Buchou? Are you there?"

Tezuka snapped out of his shocked state to see Ryoma looking at him with concern.

"Aa. You look wonderful, Ryoma," he said softly, smiling gently at her, making the girl flush a pretty shade of pink.

"Arigatou, Buchou. Shall we go now?" Ryoma said, smiling at him, eyes glittering with happiness.

"Aa."

* * *

><p>"We shouldn't do this, minna. Tezuka might catch us!" Oishi urgently whispered at Fuji's retreating back.<p>

"We should, nya! I want to see what Tezuka looks like with a date!" Kikumaru said fervently as he followed Fuji's lead and ducked behind a Takoyaki stall. The stall owner looked at the teens with curiosity and perhaps a bit of incredulousness as Inui muttered something and Fuji cackled quite evilly.

"Besides, Oishi, how can I get blackmail material if we don't follow them?" Fuji said as he stroked his camera with reverence.

"I really have a bad feeling about this, minna," Oishi muttered worriedly, looking at Tezuka and Ryoma's retreating forms.

"Nonsense, Oishi. Besides, it's not only us who are enjoying the show," Inui said as he nodded at the stall opposite them. Oishi looked and just about had a heart attack as he spied all of the Hyoutei regulars hiding behind the said stall. The poor owner looked like he was facing a yakuza or something with his petrified face.

'Tezuka, please forgive me!' Oishi mentally begged as he followed his (soon-to-be) partner and his two cohorts in tailing the couple.

* * *

><p>"Mitsu, can we try this stall?" Ryoma said, tugging slightly on Tezuka's sleeve as she spied a large brown teddy bear as the grand prize.<p>

Tezuka stopped walking immediately and looked at the direction Ryoma was pointing at, only to smile a little seeing as it was a throwing game.

"Aa, let's go," he said as Ryoma gave him a brilliant smile and bounded for the stall.

"And do you want to try your skill at my game, miss?" the stall owner said to Ryoma as she neared, a kind smile on his face.

"Iie, I'll do it," Tezuka said, as Ryoma looked like she was about to say yes.

"But, Mitsu, I wanted to try it," Ryoma said, pouting at Tezuka. Tezuka just chuckled slightly, giving the stall owner the game's required fee. Ryoma just huffed, a slight pink visible on her cheeks.

"Am I required to throw it? Or will I win if I just knock down the pins?" Tezuka said, eyes calculating the strength he would need to knock down the pins.

"Just knock down the pins, young man. No other rules, except you have to use this. Oh, and if you want to win the grand prize, you should knock down the pins with only one ball. Goodluck," the man said as he gave Tezuka three tennis balls.

Tezuka nodded as he palmed a tennis ball. He was looking for the center of gravity the tin cans had so that he may strike them at full force with simplicity. Well, that was running through his mind when he was suddenly faced with a tennis racquet from goodness knows where. When he turned around, he found a smiling Sakuno, arm in arm with a sheepish Kawamura.

"Here you go, Tezuka-sempai!" Sakuno chirped, her expression eerily similar to a cat that ate the canary.

Tezuka looked at her then looked at her and a sheepish, but smiling Kawamura, who was looking apologetically at Ryoma's haughtily enquiring face. He then but all sighed as he plucked the racquet from Sakuno's fingers, gave her a thankful nod, then all but demolished the tower of tin cans, much to the amazement of the stall owner.

After Ryoma gleefully claimed her big brown stuffed bear that was almost as big as her, she looked at Sakuno and Kawamura piercingly, making Sakuno giggle nervously and Kawamura to shift from foot to foot.

"So, anything to say?" she said bluntly, hugging the brown bear slightly. Honestly, she just wanted to get it over with. And besides, Kawamura was the most normal of all the regulars. Well, provided there isn't a racquet 5 meters in lieu of him, that is.

"Well, Echizen-chan, I don't mind. If I can go out with Ryuzaki-chan, who am I to stop you?" Kawamura said as he smiled at Ryoma.

"Arigatou, Kawamura-sempai," Ryoma smiled a little, relieved that the only hurdles would be Kaidoh and Momoshiro. Kaidoh, she wasn't too worried about. It was Momo's reaction that would certainly be explosive. Well, no need to worry about that right now.

Tezuka watched as Sakuno waved goodbye at Ryoma. Kawamura nodded to her and gave him a smile that was disturbingly almost like Fuji's before holding out his hand for Sakuno to take as they proceeded with their own date.

"Ne, Mitsu, let's go?" Ryoma's voice jolted him out of his reverie. Tezuka looked at Ryoma and nodded.

"You look cute," Tezuka said as they were walking away, smiling slightly at Ryoma's peeved look as she hefted the big bear up so she can walk without tripping.

"It's not my fault this is a big teddy bear, now is it? But it's still lacking something," Ryoma said as she scanned the stalls for something. When she spotted it, she gave a small whoop and dashed towards the stall. Tezuka just shook his head at his girlfriend's antics and left to follow her. When he got near, Ryoma turned to face him and presented him with the bear.

"There! It's finished!" Ryoma said with a flourish. Tezuka just shook his head in slight exasperation. Resting on the brown bear's nose was a pair of thin plastic spectacles just like his.

"I'm not that fat, am I?" Tezuka asked, stifling his chuckles.

"Nope! You're just as cuddly on the inside! On the outside you're a wooden block!" Ryoma said impishly, grinning at his trying-not-to-smile boyfriend.

"You're a brat," Tezuka said fondly as he held out his hand for the bear, which Ryoma handed over eagerly.

"Meh. You still love me," Ryoma said as she gave the bear to him, giggling softly.

"Indeed."

* * *

><p>"Momoshiro! How many times do I have to tell you! It's Ann! Not 'Tachibana's little sister'!"<p>

"Eh? But, I like calling you that," Momoshiro said mischievously, grinning at Ann's irritated look.

"And why the heck do you like it?" Ann harrumphed as she glared at Momoshiro in exasperation. Honestly, why did she like this guy again?

"You're cute when you pout like that," Momoshiro said offhandedly, though his cheeks were lightly dusted with pink.

Oh, yeah. He's a total sweetheart.

"You're impossible, Momoshiro," Ann said as she turned the other way to hide her blush. In doing so, she spotted an emerald green head she wouldn't mistake for anyone else.

"Ryoma!" she shouted, trying to get her attention, only to falter seeing as she was on a date with a guy that suspiciously looked like Tezuka-san.

"Eh? Echizen's here? Where?" he looked at the direction Ann was waving, crowing in delight as he spotted someone with her. "Heh. She's on a date! Come on, Tachibana's little sister! Let's go see who it is!"

"Eh? That's rude! Oi, Momoshiro! Let go! Stop running so fast! You're dragging me!"

* * *

><p>"Oishi, Ore-sama never expected that you were a voyeur."<p>

Oishi sighed as he turned to find Atobe and the rest of the Hyoutei regulars crouched down where they were. A while ago, they encountered Sakuno and Kawamura who were on a date themselves. They confessed to have interacted with the couple so Fuji invited them over to spy with them, which Sakuno happily applied herself onto and Kawamura just shook his head good naturedly. Then a short time later, they encountered Momoshiro and Ann tailing the couple themselves, so, being the good (cough*sadistic*cough) sempai that he was, Fuji had taken the liberty of informing Momoshiro of Tezuka and Ryoma's relationship. Well, the first thirty minutes he had to be hauled all over the place seeing as his mind had probably short circuited with the information, but after that, he was just as enthusiastic about it as Kikumaru. Ann, well, she just nodded sagely at the information.

And so, the lot of them were crouched behind some bushes, peering across to the bank of the lake the couple managed to find.

"Shhh! I can't hear what they're saying!" Kikumaru shushed them all quickly.

* * *

><p>"Mitsu, It's beautiful here," Ryoma said as she scanned the surroundings happily.<p>

"Aa. Every new year I would come here and watch fireworks with my family. Ever since my grandfather died when I was starting at Seigaku, my mother often asked me if I'd bring someone else with me. I'd always say no. This year, maybe I could bring you," Tezuka said, smiling softly at the astonished look Ryoma was giving him.

"You're going to introduce me? Really?" Ryoma said, her face lighting up at the prospect of meeting Tezuka's family. And to be the first girl to boot!

"Why? Don't you want to?" Tezuka asked, chuckling slightly at her suddenly panicked look. She was just perfect.

"Of course I do!" Ryoma hmphed, clutching the Tezuka-bear tighter. Tezuka chuckled again seeing her do that.

"You know, if Fuji saw you now, he'd probably harass you to wear pajamas just so he could take your picture," Tezuka said, amused at the indignant sqwack she uttered.

"I'd burn his blasted camera," she said, a steely glint appearing in her eyes.

"Brat," Tezuka said fondly, resting his right hand against her cheek. Ryoma sighed and leaned in on his hand.

"Of course. But I'm your brat, ne?" she said as she straightened out and swooped in for a kiss on the cheek.

"No one else's," Tezuka said, smiling as he closed the distance between their lips.

A sudden yelp separated them and immediately they zoned in on the source of the noise. With purposeful strides, Tezuka was there in a matter of seconds and hauled away some underbrush to reveal Sakuno, Ann, the entire Seigaku regulars except Kaidoh, and the entire Hyoutei regulars.

"Minna, a pleasure," Tezuka said, a tick forming on his forehead.

Everyone, even the Hyoutei regulars laughed nervously at the dark aura Tezuka was emitting. And then they felt another dark aura coming towards them. When they looked, Ryoma was looking at them murderously.

"Minna, you were PEEPING?"

Ah, the joys of being friends with Ryoma Echizen.

* * *

><p>Hihi! DONE! READ AND REVIEW! :D<p>

Up next! Wakato and his screaming fangirls! Stay tuned for the chaos! :D


End file.
